Sabhan Adam: Self-Made Artist
Appeared in JO Magazine Arts Review Section

Of the slew of younger generation of artists to have emerged in recent years, Sabhan Adam is probably one of the most successful. Within a period of five or so years he has had many solo exhibits not just in the Arab world (Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan) but in most major European cities (Paris, Hamburg, Brussels, Nice, Montpellier, Dijon, Leon, Istanbul, and others), and is scheduled to show in New York later this year. He has been written up in serious European art journals whose pages very seldom feature Arab artists, if at all. His paintings, moreover, command international art-market prices and have been collected by a number of museums and even a few celebrities.

It is hard to describe Sabhan's paintings in writing and do them justice. He paints figures in the expressionistic style, melding together an intricate mass of lines that make up his figures alongside a counterpoint of color outbursts that provide a grounding of the figure into the canvas. Adjectives which come to mind to describe his painting are brutal, tormented, powerful, provocative, and angry. On the other hand, and even as the works are seemingly agitated and complex, they nonetheless succeed in maintaining a certain simplicity about them, a sense of economy and keeping the message to the point, which gives them an unmistakable sense of modernity.

It has been said that people either love Sabhan's paintings or hate them, with no middle ground. What is certain is that they never fail to evoke a strong emotional response from the viewer, and that they have the power to compel you to keep on looking and keep coming back from more. Sabhan will not talk about what his painting is “about”, will not engage in any deep “meaningful” analysis of the symbolism that may or may not exist in his images. His work is left naked, raw, laid out in front of the viewer to interpret each in his/her own way.

In 1989, after having flirted for a while with writing and poetry, Sabhan decided to become a painter. He says that from the beginning he wanted to “paint who he is”, and emphasizes the fact that he is entirely self-taught, with no formal training. Although it is somewhat difficult to get Sabhan to talk candidly about some aspects of his personal and artistic life, it is nonetheless obvious that he has not been altogether welcomed within the established artistic community of his native Syria , where he has established a reputation for being private and reclusive. Whether this reputation is deserved or not (knowing him, Sabhan does not seem to this writer to fit the profile of a reclusive, unapproachable misanthrope), it has probably helped motivate him to vindicate himself by seeking out an audience for his art abroad, which he did, mainly in Europe.

The first thing that strikes you about Sabhan is his nondescript appearance, as if designed to provide maximum anonymity. During his last show at Gallery Zara ( February 11-28, 2004 ), I observed with interest as people looked about the exhibition space, unable to discern who the artist was. He comes off as a quiet, shy man who does not have much use for words. When he does speak he initially will do so in a low, almost uninterested voice, but thereafter will invariably surprise you with bursts of rapid-fire staccato sentences that seem to come out of nowhere.

One of the subjects which clearly animates him and which he will repeatedly come back to is the state of cultural production in the Arab world, of which he is bitterly disappointed. “Where are all the people writing, painting, in the Arab world?” he laments; “How can one create in this society, this environment”, by which he means a place where so many people like art to be pretty, clichéd and/or orientalized and, quite likely, to match the colors in the living room.

You do not have to talk with Sabhan for long to get a sense that he is very proud of having been so well received in Europe , and justifiably so. Although one cannot say in any sense of the word that he has not been favorably received by local standards in Amman, Beirut, or Damascus, the Arab cities where he has shown his art, Europeans are much more likely to purchase the paintings (something which is understandably important for a full-time artist who no other source of financial support), and much more appreciative and accepting of Sabhan's work. I told Sabhan that Amman is not a market for art, and definitely not a place to sell serious art, especially when it is priced at the international rate. He replied that he does not show here to sell, but as an artist he has a duty to show his work. Still, he says, he is tired, since in 2003 he had back to back shows in different capitals almost every other month, with a different body of work shown in each. “Please mention in your article”, he said, “that this show in Amman is going to be my last show in the Arab world for many years to come”. Impressed with his prolific output and seemingly boundless energy, I asked Sabhan why it was that he worked so much. “I have the philosophy of the Chinese--”, he laughed, “to flood the market. I want to spread myself like the rays of the sun”, he said, only half jokingly.

The most remarkable thing about Sabhan is that it is difficult to understand how he got where he is today. His art, for example, is completely different from the usual art which comes out of Syria in particular and the region in general, save for some similarities in the materials used. Hasakeh, where he is from and where he still lives and works, is a tiny town in northeast Syria near the Iraqi border which one would be hard-pressed to find on a map. (One can imagine that he has become a bit of a celebrity there, probably making more money than most of the people in town.) He speaks no languages save his native Arabic, and it is no easy task to get him to talk about his art. When he does, he has no recourse to the art-speak of critics and connoisseurs. Most significantly, he had very little exposure to the Western tradition of modern art within which it is not difficult to place his art. Nonetheless, he has managed to create a body of work that is able to communicate with an international audience and probe the depths of the human psyche, a modern body of work that is of our time and has made an impact on the international level--no small accomplishment, especially for an Arab artist living in the Arab world.

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