Nizar Sabour

Syrian born in Latakia, lives and works in Moscow.
1990 – Ph.D. in Art Science, Strugunov Academy of Industrial & Applied Arts, Moscow, Russia.
1981 – BFA, Damascus University, Syria.

Love in heaven painting by nizar sabour — Love In Heaven as it is on Earth (2020) – mixed media on canvas, 80″×56″

The guardians of maaloula painting by nizar sabour — The Guardians of Maaloula (2020) – mixed media on canvas, 80″× 58″

Memories from palmyra painting by nizar sabour — Memories from Walls of Palmyra (2020) – mixed media on canvas, 72″×40″

Walls of palmyra painting by nizar sabour — Walls of Palmyra (No.7-2018) – mixed media, ash on canvas, 39″ x 31″

Walls of palmyra 6 painting by nizar sabour — Walls of Palmyra (No.6-2018) – mixed media, ash on canvas, 31″x 31″

Walls of palmyra 8 painting by nizar sabour — Walls of Palmyra (No.8-2017) – mixed media on canvas, 31″x31″

Icon Past & Present (2016) – acrylic, gold leaf on canvas, 31″ x 46″

Maaloula painting by nizar sabour — Maaloula – (No.13-2015) – mixed media on canvas, 32″ x 24″

Mt Qalamoun Icon (2015) – mixed media on canvas, 32″x24″

– – – << Selected Small Works – 2011 – 2017 >> – – –

Olives dish 1 painting by nizar sabour — Dish of Olives (No.1-2016) – acrylic on canvas, 20″ x 20″

Olives dish 2 painting by nizar sabour — Dish of Olives (No.2-2016) – acrylic on canvas, 20″ x 20″

Oilves dish 3 painting by nizar sabour — Dish of Olives (No.3-2016) – acrylic on canvas, 20″ x 20″

Antar painting by nizar sabour — Antar (2016) – acrylic, gold leaf on canvas, 23.5″x18′

Abla painting by nizar sabour — Abla (2016) – acrylic, gold leaf on canvas, 23.5″x18′

Maaloula 9 painting by nizar sabour — Maaloula (No.9-2017) – acrylic on canvas, 75″×55″ in

Maaloula no2 painting by nizar sabour — Maaloula (No.2-2015) – acrylic on canvas board, radius 16″ x 16″

Damascus Icon (No.1-2015) – acrylic on canvas board, radius 16″ x 16″

Nizar sabour in his studio — Sabour in his studio

Sabour talks from his studio about the Syrian and Russian cultures influence on his work.

Selected Biography

Nizar Sabour was born in Latakia and now lives and works in Damascus and Moscow. He received his PhD in art philosophy from Strugunov Academy in Moscow, the influence of Syrian-Russian cultures are reflected in his work which splits between two themes, the first has religious undertones, focusing on the artist’s fascination with historical imagery and icons whether Christian, Islamic or non-Abrahamic traditions and the second theme is very poetic. His images tend to appear archaic, utilizing traditional elements silkscreened with paint, sand, and ash on canvas, with a flattened perspective and spots of colored shapes. He employs motifs reminiscent of the European Dada movement rather than the precision of historical iconography. His recent work includes Icons, Maaloula and Palmyra have a correlation to the historical and religious places in Syria where the extremists entered towns and ransacked the culture.

Education
1990 – Ph.D. in Art Science – Strugunov Academy of Industrial and Applied Arts – Moscow, Russia
1981 – Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Photography, Damascus University, Syria

Professional Career
2014-Present – Professor of art at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus, Syria
2011-2013 – Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science, Head of Graphic Design Department at the International University for Science and Technology, Damascus
2005-2008 – Head of Painting and Photography Department, Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus University, board member of the Syrian Visual Arts Union

Collections
Nizar Sabour’s work is in museums and private collections around the Middle East, Russia, Europe and U.S.A.

Awards
2006 – Visual Artist Fellowship, 4th Tehran Biennale for Contemporary Art
2004 – Visual Artist Fellowship first prize, Dubai Scientific Forum for Arts, Dubai

Solo Exhibitions
2021 – “I am in Syria” Zawaya Gallery, Damascus, Syria
2019 – “Syrian Icons” Contemporary National Museum for Visual Arts, Damascus
2018 – “Maaloula & Palmyra” Rayzan Museum, Rayzan, Russia
2018 – “Memories of Cities” House of Art, Moscow, Russia
2017 – “Palmyra Walls” Rayzan Museum, Rayzan, Russia; Syrian National Museum, Damascus
2017 – “Olives” Kalimat Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey; Solitaire Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon

Group Exhibitions
2021 – “Crossing Borders: Artists from the Middle East & the Americas” Scope Art Show, Miami, FL
2021 – “Crossing Borders: Artists from the Middle East & Latin America” Kendall Art Center in collaboration with Khawam Gallery, Miami, FL
2021 – “Selections from Syrian Contemporaries” Arab International University Gallery, Damascus, Sy
2020 – “War & Hope” ArtServe in collaboration with Khawam Gallery, Ft Lauderdale, FL
2019 – Oct 9-10 at Florida International Trade & Cultural Expo, Ft Lauderdale Convention Center, Oct 4-6 at Verasoni, Fairfield, NJ; Sept 27-29, Syrian Arts & Culture Center, Brooklyn, NY.
2018 – “Untold Stories”, London
2017 – “Memories of Cities” Sabra Gallery
2017 – “Destructive Icons” Rizan National Museum of Art, Rizan, Russia
2017 – “Olive Dish Series” Kalimat Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey; “Damascus Icons” SV Gallery, Beirut.

Art Fairs
Scope Art Show, Miami Art Week, 2021.
Biennial Venice 2011; Sharjah Biennial 1995; 1997 and 1999; Biennale “Al Mahaba” Syria 1995.

Workshops
2015 – “Natural Materials in Contemporary Photography” National Center for Visual Arts, Damascus
2008 – “First Mediterranean Environmental Art Forum” Crete, Greece (August)
2007 – “The Mediterranean Foundation, Damascus (may); Gallery Qazh, Damascus
2006 – “Art Instructors and Students of the Department of Photography in cooperation with Shell Damascus

Bibliography/Press (selected) (open links with Google Chrome for English translation)
Boca Raton Magazine, BocaMag.com: https://bit.ly/2Rb7PE3 – by John Thomason, 9/2020.
2020 – Nizar Sabour: “Beautiful Death” Tishreen Journal (3/14/2020);
Syrian Artist is Searching for Life in Death” Alarab.CO.UK News (2/7/2020);
“Understanding The Love Code” AlHuria Journal (1/19/2020);“Searching For The Legitimacy of The Visual Language” AlBaath News (4/1/2020);2019 – “Contemporary Syrian Art on ” US Tour, Brooklyn Reporter Spectator, New York (11/2019)
“56 Syrian Cultural Figures” Sana News (3/25/2019)

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