Drawing upon the Levant’s ancient history, Walid Al Agha creates incorporates calligraphic elements into paintings of the region’s historic languages, such as Arabic, Aramaic and Sumerian. “My artistic experience is based on the Arabic letter and its harmony with the symbols of ancient Syrian civilizations,” he explains. “Rich in their connotations and inexhaustible aesthetics and with all their connections to the land, history and civilization. “
Born in Damascus, Walid Al Agha (1953) graduated from the Department of Visual Communications, Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus University in 1979 and was a lecturer there from 1982–1989.
In his work, Al Agha focuses on presenting an alternate vision of calligraphy through words as well as individual letters. Using language as the visual elements with which to construct the space of each painting, he treats each as a symbol of Syria’s history. Working on cloth or acrylic on canvas, Al Agha’s palette is usually composed of earthy colors.
Al Agha has shown his work in group and solo exhibitions throughout Syria as well as in Kuwait, Germany, the UAE, Bahrain, Switzerland, Japan and the US. He participated in the Sharjah Biennale in 1994 and has his work in public collections such as The People’s Palace, Damascus; The National Museum, Damascus and the Burj Al-Arab, Dubai.