Besher Koushaji
Born 1983, in Syria. Lives and works in Dubai
Besher Koushaji is a Syrian contemporary artist, whose work explores themes related to memory and longing of a lost home. His paintings consist of portraits of beautiful women, engaged in casual, everyday scenarios which are distorted by lines and sections.
The female portraits represent loved ones from Syria, while the lines and sections consist of architectural images of buildings from his home country. Through the distortion of the original figure, the artist expresses his attempt to reflect upon beautiful memories from his home. In this way, he explores notions of nostalgia, through a strong sensibility and affect.
The influence of the artist's background in graphic design, as well as the infusion of cultural musings such as classical Arabic calligraphy and arabesque art are evident in Koushaji's contemporary paintings.
Besher Koushaji holds an M.A in Fine Arts and Visual Communication from Damascus University and currently undertakes an MA in Cubism from the same university. He has participated in International Art Fairs including, Beirut Art Fair (2021), Intersect 21 Art Fair, Chicago (2021), Intersect, Aspen (2020) and Egypt International Art Fair (2020).
Selected solo and groups exhibitions include: Painting the Figure, Rosenfeld Gallery, London (2021); Shenzhen Biennial, China (2021); Scene, Wadi Finan Art Gallery, Amman (2019); Art on 56th Gallery, Beirut (2019); Kalemat Sanat Galery, Istanbul, Turkey (2018).
