Marwan (Syrian, b. 1934)

From 1974, at a time when Syrian artist Marwan was first starting to paint what was to become his infamous Head and Facial Landscape series, Still Life offers characteristics that have become synonymous with the artist's oeuvre. Elements slowly morph into each other as the perspective is flattened. The radiator and bed are depictions of the artist's studio and living space that featured often in his self-portrait paintings in bed of the late 1960s and 1970s. At times melancholic, at times shy or projecting feelings of marginalisation, Marwan's paintings captivate the viewer in their surreal quality.