Safwan Dahoul (Syrian, b. 1961)

Originally from Hama, Syria, Safwan Dahoul is one of the leading contemporary Syrian artists of the Arab world. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus in 1983 and several years later, received a doctorate from the Higher Institute of Plastic Arts in Mons, Belgium. Dahoul returned to Syria to teach and mentor young artists studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts.

Dahoul’s ongoing “Dream” series is undoubtedly one of the most renowned bodies of work found in the contemporary Arab art sphere. Since the 1980s, he has used this series as a platform to share his experiences and thoughts on how dreams have influenced him, specifically his artmaking process. Dahoul’s canvases capture key intimate moments that one may experience during different phases in life: slumber, friendship, isolation and mourning. The repeated female protagonist adds to this visceral experience primarily through her distorted body and deep eyes. However, one must not assume that this figure represents gender as Dahoul explained in an interview with Nyree Barrett, but instead that she “represent[s] humankind...” He also disclosed that initially the female figure was inspired by a woman who he had “an impossible love story with” when he was younger. Dahoul lives and works in the United Arab Emirates today.