Born in 1988 in Baabda, the capital of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, Jad El khoury belongs to a generation of artists born during the Lebanese Civil War, (1975-1990) the memory of which still haunts the country: the Lebanese capital still shows signs of past traumas. Several of the city’s buildings still bear the scars of the conflict, but to demolish them would be to forget. In his work, Jad El Khoury looks at this panorama, in order to reappropriate both his city and its history. Rather than hiding the city’s scars, El Khoury works to embellish them, to give them new life through his character Potato Nose — also a sort of alter-ego for him — or Single Man, another avatar who “keeps to his bubble in order not to be confronted with society”.
Single Man, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm. Courtesy Jad El Khoury
Kim, felt pens on paper, 70 x 70 cm. Courtesy Jad El Khoury
Jad El Khoury reminds us that Beirut’s buildings, with their holes, have become almost invisible to the city’s population, who don’t seem to even notice them anymore. By “dressing them up”, Jad makes a point about how precarious the country’s current political equilibrium is, and how it could plunge Lebanon into chaos, again.
Jad El Khoury's studio in Beirut (Courtesy Jad El Khoury)
El Khoury has already tried to move on, to leave everything behind when he fled to Kuwait — but his career there as an interior designer lasted just a year. Upon his return to Beirut, the artist began to fully dedicate his practice to “doodle art”, taking the city by storm.
WAR PEACE, Beirut
At dawn, El Khoury climbs the city’s war-torn buildings, he decorates their surfaces with his characters Potato Nose and Single Man. Every bullet hole or crater becomes the starting point of the artist’s creative universe. But behind its exterior playfulness, El Khoury’s work warns us against a new descent into chaos.
WAR PEACE Project, Beirut
Single Man, Kuwait, Mubarak al Kabeer Street
Winner of the 2017 Arte Laguna Prize, (as well as of the Biafarin Honor Award) Jad El Khoury will be an artist in residence at Venice’s Fallani serigraphy studio starting in November, where he will also show his works. In April 2018, his work will be on show at the Embassy of France in Beirut, organized by the French Institute of Lebanon.
WAR PEACE, Beirut
Credit photo : Elie Abou Jaoude
This article is part of H A P P E N I N G's series "One Artist | One Studio —Part 2".
