FAISAL SAMRA - BIOGRAPHY
Born in Bahrain, in 1956, Faisal Samra graduated with honors from the Ecole Nationale Supe?rieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He worked as a stage designer for Saudi television, before joining the Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris as an art and graphic design consultant. From 2003 he taught in the Fine Arts department of the Amman University in Jordan as well as the Faisal Samra Studio in Bahrain. In 2005, he began an artist residency in Paris, at the Cite International des Arts. Having lived and worked in Paris, New York, Beirut, and spent time in Morocco and the far-east Samra describes himself as a ‘nomad wandering through time’. Immersion in these various cultures participates in the diversity reflected in his art. His work is a criticism of a visual culture imposed by the mass media, advertisements or political communication and demonstrates the artist’s opposition to their large-scale manipulation.
PROJECTS & PUBLIC COLLECTION ACQUISITIONS
2 11 Haeinsa Temple Collection, S.Korea Farjam collection, Dubai
2 10 Farook collection, Dubai
2 09 Weng Fine Art, Germany
2 08 Privet collection, Abu Dhabi
2 07 Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris
K.Shoman Foundation, Amman
Sh. Majed Alsabah Collection
2 06 Abdurrahman Al-Awaiss foundation, UAE. Mr. Saeb Eigner, private collection, London British Museum, London
2 05 Sh. Paula Alsabah private collection, Kuwait Dr. Anwar Gargash (Gargash Enterprises)
Private collection-Dubai
2 04 BuchDruckKunst Museum, Hamburg, Bahrain National Museum
Bahrain Financial Harbor Project Gargash Enterprises, Dubai
2 01 Modern Art Museum, Cairo
2 00 Kinda collection-Riyadh Almansouria Foundation, Jeddah Aljafali Art collection, Jeddah 1 96 Sh Abdallah Alsabah collection National Museum of Fine Arts, Darat Al-Funun, Amman 1 94 ARAMCO Dhahran,(Saudi Arabia) National Methanol Co. (IBN SINA) Jubail (Saudi Arabia) 1 93 Regency International Hotel, Manama
1 92 King Fahd Airport, Dammam, (Saudi Arabia)
1 88 National Museum, Mexico City
1 87 Ministry of Finance, Kuwait City Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
1 86 King Khalid Airport, Riyadh
1 81 Royal Commission, Jubail (Saudi Arabia)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2 11 Haein Art Project, Haeinsa Temple, South Korea Marrakech Art Fair, Images Affranchies, Marrakech Art Dubai, Dubai
Bonham’s auction, Dubai
2 10 Edge of Arabia, Soho House, Berlin Fluid Form 1, K.F.C.C., Seoul
2 09 Traverse?e, Rabat, Morocco
Edge of Arabia, Venice
2 08 Cairo Biennial, Cairo
Edge of Arabia, London
Singapore Biennial
Surreal, Mimmo Scognamiglio Gallery, Milan Traverse?e, Grand Palais, Paris
Galerie Enrico Navarra, Art Dubai, Dubai 2 07 Art Paris, Abu Dhabi
Christie’s, Dubai?
Language of the Desert, Abu Dhabi 2 06 Christie’s auction, Dubai
IMA, Paris
The British Museum, London
2 05 Language of the Desert, Kunst Museum, Bonne Mairie de Neuilly sur Seine, Paris
2 04 Museum der Arbeit, Hamburg Frankfurt Book Fair, Frankfurt Overgaden Museum(video), Copenhagen 2 03 The Arabian Canvas, Dubai
2 02 Kinda Collection, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris 2 01 Cairo Biennial, Cairo
World Museum, Rotterdam
Egizio’s Project Gallery, New York
1 99 National Museum of Fine Arts, Amman 1 98 French Embassy, Riyadh
Egee Art Gallery, London
Award, Liberty 98, New York
1 97 Sixty Arab Artists at Darat Al Funun, Amman Europe Art, Geneva
1 95 Award Dialogues of Peace, UN Exhibition, Geneva 1 92 Poitier Modern Art Museum, Poitier
Hope and Optimism, Magdalene College, Cambridge 1 91 Seoul International Festival of Art, Seoul
1 90 Racines, Annual Concourse, Suresnes
1 87 Arab Graphic Arts, Maison de la Culture, Le Havre 1 86 Baghdad International Festival, Baghdad
1 85 Rochan Gallery, Jeddah
1 83 Salon De Mai, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris
1 82 UNESCO, Paris
1 77 Award at Maison des Beaux-Arts, Paris
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2 12 Shanty Galerie HD, Casablanca, Morocco 2 11 Traffic, Dubai
2 10 Albareh Art Gallery, Bahrain
2 09 Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris
2 08 XVA Gallery, Dubai
2 07 K.Shoman Foundation, Amman
XVA Gallery, Dubai
Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
2 05 XVA Gallery, Dubai
2 04 Green Art Gallery, Dubai
2 03 Works on Paper, Agial Gallery, Beirut Third World Citizen, Fennel Gallery, Beirut 2 02 The Ultimate Fire, Grass Gallery, Kuwait
2 00 Rochan Gallery, Jeddah
1 99 Alriwaq Art Gallery, Bahrain
Galerie Epreuve d’Artiste, Beirut
1 98 Icon, Masafa Gallery, Kuwait
1 96 Contemporary Miniatures, Art Centre, Bahrain Nabatiyats, Darat Al Funun, Amman
1 95 Trace of Angels, Masafa Gallery, Kuwait
1 94 Nostalgia, Art Centre, Bahrain
1 91 Le Pli, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
1 90 Rochan Gallery, London
1 89 Acte Nomade, Galerie E. Dinet, Paris
Signs, Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
1 87 Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
1 74 Culture and Arts Association, Riyadh