The Art of Mohammad Khayata
May
24, 2016.
24, 2016.
 |
| Walking on Thread. Mohammad Khayata |
I was first introduced
to Mohammad Khayata’s work while I was strolling down the streets
of Beirut last November. On of his works (Walking
on Thread) was
exhibited in a gallery I passed by and it caught my eye immediately.
I told myself I should remember his name and investigate more about
his art when I come back home.
Khayata is a painter and
a photographer, born in Damascus in 1985. His first solo exhibition
was organized in Lebanon, three years ago.
a photographer, born in Damascus in 1985. His first solo exhibition
was organized in Lebanon, three years ago.
 |
Khayata’s work is
beautiful – it’s sensitive, powerful, thoughtful. In Bits
and Pieces, he portrays
symbols of what went on in Syria, combining stories and memories like
a patched work stitched and tied to a canvas.
beautiful – it’s sensitive, powerful, thoughtful. In Bits
and Pieces, he portrays
symbols of what went on in Syria, combining stories and memories like
a patched work stitched and tied to a canvas.
The images capture real
life grief – from the portrait of a man wrapped in a patched quilt
made of memories to another one disappearing into a patched quilt
holding a suitcase in preparation to leave behind his world and life
as he knew it.
life grief – from the portrait of a man wrapped in a patched quilt
made of memories to another one disappearing into a patched quilt
holding a suitcase in preparation to leave behind his world and life
as he knew it.
He started from the
captured moment, sketched it and finally gave birth to an entity
painted on a canvas full of personal memories, feelings and passions
to make visual the unspoken words.
captured moment, sketched it and finally gave birth to an entity
painted on a canvas full of personal memories, feelings and passions
to make visual the unspoken words.
 |
In
Blue Period, Khayata
starts from his brother’s story, “who
filled a boat with his body and went far away for a new hope
surrounded by whales, to smugglers who create creative ways to fill
our bodies in tanks of chocolates and oil”.
Blue Period, Khayata
starts from his brother’s story, “who
filled a boat with his body and went far away for a new hope
surrounded by whales, to smugglers who create creative ways to fill
our bodies in tanks of chocolates and oil”.
The work is about the
burden of our choices, how they are forced upon us, how it can all
change our lives.
burden of our choices, how they are forced upon us, how it can all
change our lives.
It is “about
our choices that became rare, destiny that became like that of a
fisherman who throws his hook in a sea of memories hoping his bate
will catch possessing thread of power, or a suitcase to emigrate as
far as you can get in this world, a bullet to kill or get killed by,
or an empty bottle to lock and isolate yourself in”.
our choices that became rare, destiny that became like that of a
fisherman who throws his hook in a sea of memories hoping his bate
will catch possessing thread of power, or a suitcase to emigrate as
far as you can get in this world, a bullet to kill or get killed by,
or an empty bottle to lock and isolate yourself in”.
 |
Remember Khayata’s
name, like I did that day when I passed by that little gallery.
name, like I did that day when I passed by that little gallery.
He is
an artist whose compassion and tenderness goes a long way.
an artist whose compassion and tenderness goes a long way.
All photos ©
Mohammad Khayata
Mohammad Khayata
For more on Khayata’s
work, visit his website.
work, visit his website.
