Freedom on canvas

Lebanese artist to display his paintings in Dubai

Against Lebanon's background of conflict, civil war and inspirational landscapes, artists have flourished.

One such artist is Hrair. He specialises in mystical and ornamental renditions of horses, women and flowers with a strong Byzantine flavour.

And beginning on Monday, Hrair will be exhibiting his internationally-acclaimed works at the Green Art Gallery, Dubai.

"There are Byzantine influences and Armenian roots in my work and I also love the details of Islamic decoration," said the winner of gold medals in art from Italy and Lebanon in a press statement.

The Beirut native has had a long and illustrious career in art since the 1960s, with exhibitions all over Europe and the Middle East.

This is not the first time Hrair is exhibiting in Dubai, having exhibited at the Art Shop in 1997 and the Courtyard in 1999, to name a few shows.

His works have been bought by such leaders as Queen Elizabeth II and King Fahd Bin Abdulaziz. Plus celebrities such as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Kirk Douglas.

For the first three decades of his career, Hrair's home country was embroiled in conflict so it is a wonder that the Beirut native resisted the temptation to showcase the anguish.

In an interview published in Saudi Aramco World e-magazine in 1989, the graduate of the Academie Libanaise des Beaux Arts said he did not want to depict hate or problems in his oil paintings, preferring to give people an escape route through his message of joy, love and beauty.

Freedom is a theme that is clearly evident in Hrair's paintings, where his subjects seem to move freely within the confines of the canvas.

Pet subject

One of Hrair's favourite subjects is horses, depicting them in fantastic and elaborate settings. His horses seem to charge, rear or float on a cloud of swirling reds, golds and blues, galloping towards some new horizon.

"The movement and form make it the most beautiful animal to paint," Hrair said.

Other than horses, Hrair loves to feature women and flowers. His women are angelic and strong, but never masculine.

Despite concocting sublime mythical and "religiously iconic" images, as described by Mid-East cultural writer Lynn Teo Simarski, Hrair said his paintings were "more stylised than folkloric".

The exhibition runs until June 2. The gallery is open from 9.30am to 1.30pm and 4.30 to 8.30pm daily.