faisal samra
b. 1955, Bahrain. Saudi National.
Faisal Samra is thought to be a forerunner of conceptual art in the Arab world. He investigates a wide range of themes in his work by placing the figure in the center and merging elements of painting, sculpture, digital photography, video and performative arts in innovative ways, mostly in relation to denouncing mass media and its manipulations. Since the 1970s, his work has been a result of research and experimentation of challenging the conventional functions of media.
Samra moved to France from Saudi Arabia in 1974, to attend the esteemed École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts engaging himself in the work of European artists, which led to his exploration of expressionist styles of bodies in motion, creating a basis for his future work involving photos, videos and installations.
He briefly moved back to Saudi Arabia, after graduating with an honors degree in 1980. In 1987, he went back to Paris to work as a Fine Arts and Graphics consultant at the Institut Du Monde Arabe. After years of participating in group exhibitions, he held his first solo show at Paris’ Etienne Dinet Gallery. Soon after, his exhibition of ‘Le Pli’ in 1991, was given great praise by critics and cemented his status as a leading Arab artist of his time.
Samra describes himself as a “nomad wandering through time”, having travelled and worked in the likes of Paris, Beirut, New York, Marrakesh and the far-East. This sets the foundation for the cultural synthesis and the concepts of fusion prominent in his work.
EXHIBITIONS
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Culture & Arts Association – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1974.
Rochan Gallery – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 1985.
‘Moualaqat’, Sultan Gallery – Kuwait City, Kuwait, 1987.
‘Acte Nomade’, Galerie Etienne Dinet – Paris, France, 1989.
‘Signs’, Sultan Gallery – Kuwait City, Kuwait, 1989.
Rochan Gallery – London, United Kingdom, 1990.
‘Le Pli’, Institut du Monde Arabe – Paris, France, 1991.
‘Sensation Plastique’, Galerie Seltzer Lejeune – Paris, France, 1992.
‘Nostalgia’, Art Center – Manama, Bahrain, 1994.
‘Trace of Angels’, Masafa Gallery – Kuwait City, Kuwait, 1995.
Masafa Gallery – Kuwait City, Kuwait, 1996.
Art Center – Manama, Bahrain, 1996.
‘Contemporary Miniatures’, Vision Gallery – Manama, Bahrain, 1996.
‘Nabatiyats’, Darat Al Funun – Amman, Jordan, 1996.
‘Icon’, Masafa Gallery – Kuwait City, Kuwait, 1998.
‘Repeated & Different’, Galerie Epreuve d'Artiste – Beirut, Lebanon, 1999.
‘Other Body’, Al Riwaq Art Space – Manama, Bahrain, 1999.
Rochan Gallery – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2000.
‘The Ultimate Fire’, Grass Gallery – Kuwait City, Kuwait, 2002.
‘Works on Paper’, Agial Gallery – Beirut, Lebanon, 2003.
‘Third World Citizen’, Fennel Gallery – Beirut, Lebanon, 2003.
Art Center – Manama, Bahrain, 2003.
‘People’, XVA Gallery – Dubai, UAE, 2005.
‘Other Body 2’, Green Art Gallery – Dubai, UAE, 2005.
‘Distorted Reality 2’, Darat Al Funun – Amman, Jordan, 2007.
‘Distorted Reality 1’, XVA Gallery – Dubai, UAE, 2007.
‘Absent Heads’, Sultan Gallery – Kuwait City, Kuwait, 2007.
‘The Other Body 03’, XVA Gallery – Dubai, UAE, 2008.
‘Distorted Reality 3’, Galerie Natalie Obadia – Paris, France, 2009.
‘Distorted Reality 4’, Albareh Art Gallery – Manama, Bahrain, 2010.
‘Resistance’, Traffic Gallery – Dubai, UAE, 2011.
‘Shanty’, Albareh Art Gallery – Manama, Bahrain, 2012.
‘Shanty’, Galerie HD – Casablanca, Morocco, 2012.
‘Majaz (Metaphor)’, Ayyam Gallery – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2013.
‘39’, Ayyam Gallery, Al Quoz – Dubai, UAE, 2014.
‘C.D.R. (Construction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction)’, Ayyam Gallery – London, United Kingdom, 2014.
‘Global Warming’, Bin Matar House – Muharraq, Bahrain, 2015.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
UNESCO – Paris, France, 1982.
Salon de Mai-Espace - Pierre Cardin – Paris, France, 1983.
Rochan Gallery – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 1985.
Baghdad International Festival – Baghdad, Iraq, 1986.
‘Arab Graphic Arts’, Maison de la Culture – Le Havre, France, 1987.
Racines - Annual Concourse – Suresnes, France, 1990.
Seoul International Festival of Art – Seoul, South Korea, 1991.
Poitier Modern Art Museum – Poitier, France, 1992.
‘Contemporary Arab Art - Hope & Optimism’ – Magdalene College, UK, 1992.
‘Sixty Arab Artists’, Darat Al Funun – Amman, Jordan, 1997.
French Embassy – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1998.
Egee Art Gallery – London, UK, 1998.
‘Beyond the Image’, National Museum of Fine Arts – Amman, Jordan, 1999.
8th International Cairo Biennale – Cairo, Egypt, 2001.
World Museum – Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2001.
Egizio's Project Gallery – New York City, New York, USA, 2001.
Kinda Collection, Institut du Monde Arabe – Paris, France, 2002.
‘The Arabian Canvas’, Sheraton Hotel – Dubai, UAE, 2003.
Museum der Arbeit – Hamburg, Germany, 2004.
‘Video Art’, Overgarden Museum – Copenhagen, Denmark, 2004.
‘Mairie de Neuilly sur Seine’ – Paris, France, 2005.
‘Languages of the Desert’, Kunstmuseum – Bonn, Germany, 2005.
‘Languages of the Desert’, Institut du Monde Arabe – Paris, France 2006.
‘Word Into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East’, British Museum – London, UK, 2006.
‘Languages of the Desert’, The Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation – Abu Dhabi, UAE, 2007.
Galerie Enrico Navarra Project – Paris, France, 2007.
Edge of Arabia – London, UK, 2008.
2nd Singapore Biennale – Singapore, 2008.
11th International Cairo Biennale – Cairo, Egypt, 2008.
53rd International Venice Biennale – Venice, Italy, 2009.
‘Traversées (Crossings)’ – Galerie Bab Rouah, Rabat, Morroco; Darb 1718, Cairo, Egypt; Grand Palais, Paris, France, 2009.
‘Transition’, Edge of Arabia – Istanbul, Turkey, 2010.
6th Berlin Biennale – Berlin, Germany, 2010.
Video Biennale, Maraya Art Center – Sharjah, UAE, 2010.
‘Grey Borders / Grey Frontiers’, Edge of Arabia – Berlin, Germany, 2010.
‘Fluid Forms I’, K.F.C.C. – Seoul, South Korea, 2010.
Haeinsa Art Project, Haeinsa Temple – Hapcheon County, South Korea, 2011.
‘#COMETOGETHER’, Edge of Arabia, Old Truman Brewery – London, UK, 2012.
‘Arab Express’, Mori Art Museum – Minato, Japan, 2012.
‘Edition #1’, Edge of Arabia Gallery – London, UK, 2013.
‘Silk Highway’, Yallay Gallery – Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong, 2013.
‘Insubordination’, Musée de la Palmeraie – Marrakech, Morocco, 2014.
‘Fluid Forms II’ – Samsung Blue Square, Seoul, South Korea; Busan Museum of Art, Busan, South Korea, 2014.
‘View from Inside’, FotoFest Biennial – Houston, Texas, USA, 2014.
‘Contemporary Kingdom’, Ayyam Gallery – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2014.
Screening: ‘Ya Hussain’, ‘Something Else’, OFF Biennale Cairo – Cairo, Egypt, 2015.
‘View From Inside: Contemporary Arab Photography, Video and Mixed Media Art’, Abu Dhabi Festival – Abu Dhabi, UAE, 2015.
COLLECTIONS
Aljafali Art Collection – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Almansouria Foundation – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
ARAMCO – Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Abdurrahman Al-Awais Foundation – UAE.
Bahrain Financial Harbor Project – Zayed House, Bahrain.
Bahrain National Museum – Manama, Bahrain.
British Museum – London, UK.
BuchDruckKunst e.V. Art book Museum – Hamburg, Germany.
Darat Al Funun – Amman, Jordan.
Dr Anwar Gargash (Gargash Enterprises) – Dubai, UAE.
Farjam Collection – Dubai, UAE.
Farook Collection – Dubai, UAE.
Institut du Monde Arabe – Paris, France.
The Jameel Art Foundation – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Kinda Collection – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Khalid Shoman Foundation – Amman, Jordan.
Ministry of Finance – Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Modern Art Museum – Cairo, Egypt.
National Methanol Co. – Jubail, Saudi Arabia.
National Museum – Mexico City, Mexico.
National Museum of Fine Arts – Amman, Jordan.
Regency International Hotel – Manama, Bahrain.
Mr. Saeb Eigner – London, UK.
Sh. Polla Al-Sabah – Kuwait City, Kuwait.
The Samawi Collection – Dubai, UAE.
Weng Fine Art – Krefeld, Germany.
AWARDS AND HONORS
Three Awards, Annual Drawing Collective Exhibitions, Beaux-Arts – Paris, France, 1975.
Award, Concours Davil Vaill – Paris, France, 1977.
Award, Maison des Beaux-Arts – Paris, France, 1977.
Award, Drawing Masters, St. Remy les Chevereuses – France, 1978.
Award, Dialogues of Peace - 50th Anniversary of UN – Geneva, Switzerland, 1995.
Award, Liberty 98 – New York, USA, 1998.