The Syrian Museum series created for the ‘Syria’ exhibition incorporates iconic subjects from the greatest European masters such as da Vinci, Matisse, Goya and Picasso - paralleling the greatest achievements of humanity with the destruction it is also capable of inflicting. Each is particularly relevant to what has befallen Syria. ‘The Syrian Museum’ series uses Western masterpieces not only for their notoriety and instant recognition, but to demonstrate that Syria has no world-class museums and the regime is presently killing its own cultural heritage. Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ shows the love and relationship between people and I have juxtaposed this with the capacity of hate the regime holds for its people. A work from this series which has gained international popularity on social networking sites is ‘Freedom Graffiti’. Featured on Saatchi’s Facebook page, this work recieved over 15,000 likes overnight and has been featured in such publications as the NY Times and the International Herald Tribune.This digital composition appropriates Gustave Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ upon a bullet-ridden wall, displaying the love and relationship between people and I have juxtaposed this with the capacity of hate the regime holds for its people.
text by Tammam Azzam