Art on 56th is pleased to announce “Under the Same Roof”, a solo exhibition of works by Syrian artist Tarek Butayhi. The gallery will showcase his body of paintings, conceived between 2016 and 2022, focusing on his personification of suffering through portraiture. He moves away from his traditional subject matter, which was largely centred on the female sitter (such as with the “Figures of Women” series), to encompass a larger range of characters, and include all human beings.
“Under the Same Roof” tells the story of mankind’s suffering in the present time. It alludes to today’s difficult climate, with the global pandemic, political and economic instability, as well as the collective consciousness of people around the world that has become tainted with feelings of fear, anguish, anger, and sadness. Although each portrait is different, the theme of the exhibition weaves together the individual paintings to symbolize the shared pain of people from every corner across the globe.Unifying the suffering of others under the same roof, Butayhi offers a glimpse into the connectedness of the human identity.
The centrepiece of the exhibition is a painting titled Arrouss Beirut – Beirut Bride, dedicated to the city that has brought the artist his inspiration and has been the root of his success. Since leaving Syria, Butayhi has settled in Lebanon, developing his craft and visual language based on the sights, the culture, and the people in his surroundings. Following the onset of the revolution, the financial crisis, and the horrific explosion on August 4th, 2020, he painted the Beirut bride, the incarnation of the city’s soul. She is depicted with her cheeks resting between her hands, her face absorbed in deep reflection on all that has happened to her country, and her beloved home.
Each of the other paintings in the show is also a portrait, revealing not only the person’s physical traits, but also what goes on beyond the surface. The canvases are portrayals of emotion, rendered in spontaneous brushstrokes, erratic lines, and expressive chromatic application. Butayhi uses colour to define form, but also to mirror the psychological state of his sitters. The turbulent brushwork gives the impression that features of these characters are in motion, as though their emotions are pouring out of
their faces and unravelling in the composition. Their melancholic gaze is countered by the vivid palette, suggesting that despite the internal turmoil, there is hope for a brighter future. The unfinished quality of the paintings establishes a subtle interplay of abstraction versus naturalism, as well as conceptual versus literal. This becomes a reflection of the world’s current state, where although people are divided by their differences, they are brought closer together by their suffering.
