Chafa Ghaddar (1986) was born in Lebanon and currently lives in Dubai. She graduated from ALBA, Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts, where she earned her Bachelor degree in Fine Arts in 2007 and her Master’s degree in Visual Arts in 2009.
In 2012, she attended an intensive course in fresco and traditional painting techniques in Florence, Italy. While developing a career in wall painting and surface finishing, she explores the use of fresco in contemporary practices as well as other processes, and works equally with murals, painting, drawing, photography and mixed media. She was awarded the Boghossian Art Prize for painting in 2014, and was artist in residence at the Villa Empain in Brussels in October and November 2015.
Ghaddar had her debuting Solo show “The Visit” at Galerie Tanit in Beirut in November 2018 and is currently developing her first permanent and public art commission curated by Amanda Abi Khalil as part of Art Dubai A.I.R. Program 2017 and in collaboration with Tashkeel and Dubai Cultural authority.
She has been selected by Tashkeel Studio as part of their Critical Practice Program CPP 2018/2019 and exhibited with them “Recesses”, her first solo show in the UAE.
With a passion for wall painting, Ghaddar developed her skills by attending different workshops that engage walls and surfaces in commercial commissions. Murals form a center of interest and are equally present in her artworks and decorative projects. With time, her practice became a moving laboratory, allowing her to experiment with new techniques, be familiarized with a range of surfaces and develop craftsmanship.
After attending an intensive course in fresco and decorative painting methods in Florence, Italy, Ghaddar developed an interest in historical painting techniques, materials and studio practices. She became familiar with a wide range of procedures such as the authentic buon fresco and scraffito, gilding and old master’s glazing, encaustic paint and Venetian plasters, amongst others. Since then, she has been experimenting with these methods while merging them with her contemporary art practice.
In her practice Ghaddar attempts to address questions on the trace and the different approaches to intervene on walls and surfaces. Her works suggests a constant negotiation with time and its manifestation on spaces, objects and memory. She explores the use and processes of natural painting techniques in contemporary practices and work with murals, paintings, drawings, photography and mixed media.
The fresco technique constitutes a major part of her research and productions.
"Fresco matures twice. In its first stage, it is a work of construction: surfaces are initiated, visuals are painted, the artist is active and the medium becomes solid.
In its second stage, the work manifests itself through its own degradation: the decay of the skin, the absence of the artist and the resistance of what remains.
Through frescoes I explore the manifestation of time on surfaces. Historical gesture appears in conversation with the present. Traces are evoked or retained, then investigated. Temporalities clash.
I explore the paradox of a medium that can be timeless and vulnerable at once. I combine it with other techniques, particularly to process the idea of trace and fragmentation of time and space. I contest its immaculate historicity to suggest new boundaries and territories. I relate to the sensuality of its surfaces that encapsulate every gesture and every error. I see it as a living material, constantly subject to growth.
Fresco allows me to pierce an ecosystem of consistencies and paradoxes, and make them mine."
In 2011, Ghaddar began a freelance practice in surface design using painting skills. Since then, she has been managing a team of professional artisans and developing several projects in collaboration with architects, contractors, decorators and interior designers. Her surfaces vary from walls and floors to ceilings and transportable panels in indoor and outdoor locations.
Both new and old techniques are used in the treatment of surfaces and experiments with different materials. Surfaces then become volume and engage with different narratives and senses. Each project is developed in a unique way and is supervised from the concept to the final execution.
Overlay
November 7 and October 12, 2020
Tashkeel Studios and Gallery, Dubai
Time Reversed
May 2017, Dar el Nimer
Space.Surface.Trace.
November 2014, Beirut Art Center
On Surface and Stability
August 2015
The Arab Digital Expression Foundation (ADEF) camp, al Qusair, Egypt
Beirut Art Fair
September 18 till September 22, 2019
Galerie Tanit, Booth P1
Art Dubai
21-24 March, 2018
Galerie Tanit, Booth B5
Fondation Boghossian
As the winner of the Boghossian Art Prize for painting in 2014, Ghaddar was artist in residence at the Villa Empain, home of the Boghossian foundation in Brussels in October and November 2015
2020
September 22 till November 25
Recesses
Solo show
Tashkeel Studio and Gallery, Dubai
2020
July 1st till September 18th 2021
Cacti in a daydream
Solo Show
Galerie Tanit hors-les-murs, Beirut
2020
December 2 till February 6, 2022
HOW WILL IT END
Fondation Boghossian
Collective Exhibition
2019
November 18 till January 12
The Visit
Solo show
Galerie Tanit, Beirut
2018
May 8 till August 30
Made in Tashkeel
Group show
Tashkeel Studio and Gallery, Dubai
2017
February 8 till April 5
Féminités Plurielles
Group show
Galerie Tanit, Beirut
2016
September 16 till October 3
City and City
Group show
The Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries, New York
2015
November 25, 2015 till January 29
L'espace de la feuille
Group show
Galerie Tanit, Beirut
2014
September 10 till October 17
Nostalgic Imagery
Group show, curated by Nadine Majdalani Bekdache and BAKS/art concepts
Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut
2013
July 4 till August 4
Journeys through our Heritage
Group show, curated by Janine Maamari and Marie Tomb
Beirut Exhibition Center
2012
January 9 till January 13
On Fleeting Grounds
Group show
Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut
2012
November 14 till January 23
Exposure 2012
Group show
Beirut Art Center
