Artist gives face to Facebook friends

Social media has become instrumental not only in spreading news and mobilizing groups of people, but also in helping people stay in touch with friends and loved ones living in other parts of the world.
In the Middle East in particular, new social media sites have become a powerful tool for young men and women to evade censorship and transcend borders to communicate with one another.
This phenomenon inspired Syrian artist Mohannad Orabi to create a series of works, taking the Facebook profile pictures of his friends as the basis for his paintings.
Born in Damascus in 1977, Orabi had to leave his country and settle in Egypt as the conflict in his homeland escalated, which made communication with friends and loved ones through social media a necessity rather than a choice.
The result of this is a collection of melancholic portraits, aptly — though unimaginatively — called “Profile Portraits”. Each face in the series, painted with acrylic on paper and canvas, is partly covered with a patterned layer of dots or circles, symbolizing the glassy barrier of the computer screen when watching the torrent of images on Facebook.
An opening reception for the exhibition Profile Portraits was held on Wednesday evening, which simultaneously coincided with the celebrations for the launch of Ayyam Gallery Jeddah and the conclusion of the Jeddah Art Week.
The opening attracted around 500 visitors, including artists, curators, expats, students, and media. Ayyam display center in Jeddah is the gallery’s fifth branch — with other exhibition centers in Beirut, Damascus, Dubai and London — and the first in the Kingdom.
Ayyam Gallery encourages the emerging Middle Eastern artists with the aim of bringing the art of this region to a wider audience.
“We represent about 50 artists and have another 50 artists under art incubators,” said Khaled Samawi, founder of Ayyam Gallery. He explained that the latter are young, talented artists his gallery is developing.
“They are on our radar,” he said.
Samawi said that the gallery decided to open its branch in Saudi Arabia because of the growing global interest in the Kingdom’s art scene. People are hungry to know more about cultural expressions, he said, adding “Over 80 percent of our population is under 30 years old.” As a result of advancement of media, these young people are well aware of the global artistic scene.
Due to difficulties in obtaining a visa, the artist himself was not able to attend the opening of his exhibition, which made it hard to get a real grasp of his work.
The ambience of Ayyam Gallery is promising. The clean, robust interior radiates tranquility. The stained concrete floor and black, open ceiling give it a factory-like touch, without creating a cold atmosphere.
The visitor’s attention will automatically be guided to the clean, white walls and the paintings on display.
The Profile Portraits exhibition will be on display until Apr. 11, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Ayyam Gallery is located on the third floor of the Bougainvillea Center on King Road, Jeddah.