Recalling his childhood, Syrian artist Hammoud Chantout narrates: “Bedridden for a long time in our mud house… I used to stare at the wall to see pictures [of] battles, horses, trees and faces; and every day the scene on the wall change[d] and this was my sole amusement when I was young.”
Coming from a rural background, Hammoud Chantout (1956) was born in Al-Sfera near Aleppo. He went on to graduate from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus and obtained his Master’s degree from the École Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris in 1984.
Using symbolism in his work, Chantout is known for creating mystical paintings on various themes, including age-old legends or myths; nature as the all-giving mother and the sense of loss and isolation concerning his homeland. Working with different brushstrokes and textures, he paints using multiple translucent layers, dabs of pigment or lays on thick layers with a knife.
Hammoud Chantout has had over 40 solo exhibitions around the world, including Montreal, Paris, Washington, Beirut, Amman, Damascus and Kuwait. His work has been collected by individuals, galleries, museums and institutions.