Richard Koh Fine Art is pleased to present Damascus Rising – Syrian Art Today, a small  but carefully curated survey of contemporary Syrian art featuring five of Syria’s most respected artists – Abdullah Murad, Fadi Yazigi, Zouhair Dabbagh, Nassim Elias and Yousself Abdelke. The exhibition will run from the 24th of February to the 11th of March 2011.

Syrian art has had a long trajectory of development that ran parallel to her counterparts in the Middle East and Asia. While Syria was isolated from the rest of the world, art in Syria flourished under relatively little control from the government, who realised that visual art exerted little influence and were generally ignorant of the political messages visual art carries. In relative isolation from the rest of the world, Syrian art developed in parallel rather than in conjunction with contemporary Middle Eastern and Asian art. As the region has suffered from conflict and political turmoil for much of the last century, its artists have responded to this complicated and unhappy history by representing these fighters, oppressors and victims in a range of idioms with varying degrees of directness. It is not what is happening globally that has influenced the Syrian artists, but domestic issues and conflicts. While art is not produced in a bubble, Syrian artists have capitalised on this and turned it into a great source of inspiration.

Syria has a long artistic pedigree, with a rich Islamic art and antiquities culture, as such, contemporary art has always struggled for similar recognition both at home and abroad. However, in the last few years, with with economic reform, Syria has been moving progressively away from Socialism towards a more market-driven economy. This shift has had a profound effect on the country’s artists and on its contemporary art.

The artists in Syria have begun to use international trends to express specific visions, especially from the 1960s. Their work demonstrates incredible strength, pays homage to the human spirit, and shows a profound denunciation of the tyranny and persecution that they face.

Because Syrian art is little known and seldom exhibited overseas, Richard Koh Fine Art is proud to present the works of these artists that show the sensitivity and creativity borne out of years of repression and isolation. Contemporary Syrian art is always highly attuned to the pervading political climate, sensitive to the nuances of “official culture”, propaganda and censorship. Yet it continues to walk a courageous line, showing the tenacity that made Syria the centre of creativity, culture and civilisation all those centuries ago. The works in this exhibition subtley demonstrate the politcal nature of their work, but also reflect upon social issues, and show us an almost modernist view of Syrian society.

Abduallah Murad - Abdullah Murad’s work is characterised by calligraphic swirls of colour and movement. His work is an invitation to freedom, enticing the viewer to take joy in a world besieged by anxiety, anarchy and injustice.

Fadi Yazigi - Fadi Yazigi’s art is the culmination of the artist’s uninhibited creative freedom to visually express the social and political situation of his time. His paintings faithfully reflect and convey emotions, ideas, dreams and sublimations. They are nostalgic chronicles of relationships. Fadi Yazigi’s work document his understanding of the people he encounters daily, as he tries to read the unasked questions on the faces of the people around him. He experiments with form and colour, smoothing layer upon layer until he is happy with the final sensation.

Zouhair Dabbagh – Based in Aleppo, Zouhair Dabbagh is a trained sculptor whose paintings take on three-dimensional qualities with his sensibility of a sculptor translated onto the medium of painting. He is also both an architect and professor and has influenced many artists in Syria. His work is rooted in the modernist tradition of the Levant.

Nassim Elias – Nassim Elias is the youngest of the five artists presented. His work comprises of mostly collages that, like woven tapestries of the past, demonstrate the richness and diversity of Syria, but also a slight discordance in the riot of colours and visual chaos.

Youssef Abdelke – Based in Paris, Youssef Abdelke is one of Syria’s more celebrated and respected artists. Having lived in Paris and even spending a few years in prison for his political views, Youssef Abdelke now commands much respect in the Middle Eastern art world. His years as the foremost cartoonist and caricaturist in the region made him turn to charcoal to express. His still life works are steeped in tonality and emotion, and his attention to detail results in dramatic intensity with an underlying metaphysical resonance

This exhibition is curated by Jean-Marc Decrop. He is an independent curator based in Hong Kong.