Young Collectors Auction - exhibit-E

TammamAZZAM1980Lot 048'Laundry Series' Signed, Dated60 X 60 cm. Mixed Media, Cloth and Cloth Pegs on Canvas 2008Estimate (US$ 3,000 - 4,000)Born in Damascus in 1980, Tammam Azzam is a graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts witha concentration in oil painting and has exhibited with some of Syria’s leading art spaces,including Atassi gallery and the French Culture Centre. Striving to further his artisticpractice, Azzam obtained a Fine Arts Certificate from Darat al Funun’s esteemed artistworkshop program Al Kharif Academy under Syrian master Marwan Kassab Bashi in2001. Since being selected for “Shabab Ayyam” project in 2008, he has been featuredin several significant events including the group show “Stories from the Levant,” ScopeArt Fair (Basel) 2009 and Art Miami 2010. As such, he has established a fan base thatincludes collectors from all over the world.Azzam’s style of painting is one that focuses on the tactical application of media-how avariety of components can be employed to create depth, texture and space, achieving aresounding balance between the ordinary objects that he portrays and the grand terrainthat he evokes. Often times clothes line with actual pins are depicted with quick brushworkso that his compositions are infused with a playful yet enigmatic narrative. Yet in the sameregard these inanimate items work to emphasize the vigor of the space around them, as theremainder of the composition is usually rendered with vivacious strokes and bold markingsthat imply a sense of movement and energy.His subjects thus compliment the abstract expressionist details that form them. Recallingthe blunt lines, spectacular peaks and vivid sensations found in nature, the artist’s canvasesare partly inspired by the rugged volcanic landscape of his native Sweida in southern Syria,as though contrasting manmade elements with those that form organically.