Through each series of paintings, artist Walid El Masri explores the infinite variations of a subject: "Every time you repeat a shape, you perceive it in a different way,” he says. “You draw a series of circles, each slightly different from the previous one."
Born in Syria, Lebanese artist Walid El Masri (1979) graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus in 2005. He also trained by the renowned Expressionist painter Marwan at Darat Al-Funun, Amman, Jordan.
Exploring variations in depth and space through abstracted compositions of a repeated subject, El Masri's depictions are less about the objects themselves and more about the possibility of transformation that comes from paying close attention to that object over time. Referencing the dramatic metamorphosis of the butterfly, he compares that symbolic representation to the challenges that face Syria in the future. In parallel, he has created works directly related to the war, drawing children who were lost, displaced or murdered. After losing his father to a kidnapping and ransom, he stopped painting for some time. When he was able to restart again, he spontaneously painted a peacock, an homage to his father.
Walid El Masri’s selected solo exhibitions include at Europia Gallery, Paris; Ayyam Gallery, London, Jeddah, Damascus and Dubai; Art Beijing Contemporary Art Fair; Art Hong Kong art fair; The Busan Museum of Art, South Korea and Samsung Blue Square, Seoul. He is also a member of the Syrian Cultural Caravan that creates cultural events across Europe.