Hala Mouzannar is a Lebanese painter born in 1968. Through her practice, she delves into studies of textures, human affectivity and sensorial stimulation. Mouzannar experiments with paint, latex, varnish and oils to create layers of “skin” on her canvases. Recreating in her paintings the effects of time, gravity and injury on the skin, the artist explores self-control versus the inevitable, and subjects such as trauma and pain.

“Ultimately, my aim is to spark a conversation between the (pain)ting and the viewer: pain is sometimes triumphant (overflowing and invading space) and sometimes controlled (discreet and even adulatory).  I want to show the ambivalence and the different nuances of our relationship to our pains- when they dominate us, or inversely, when we master them. My paintings rest doubly on the passing of time: the time I spend working on each work and the time our bodies- and above all our souls need to mend their wounds.” -Mouzannar.

Having previously had a career in media planning with a BA in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut, Mouzannar began painting in 2015 and later obtained an MFA in Visual Arts from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA). She has participated in group exhibitions, namely at La Maison Abandonée, Beirut, 2021; Arthaus Gallery, Beirut, 2021 and at the Beirut Art Center (2022-23). Today, Mouzannar is part of a collective of four artists whose practice consists in putting together independent exhibitions in abandoned locations around Beirut.

“Oiseaux de Paradis” is a 2x3m work by Hala Mouzannar. It has recently been exhibited at the Beirut Art Center in the group show “Maintain” as part of an immersive installation by the collective “Yalla Bala Manyake”. The work consists of layers of plaster and paint, with rocks, pine needles, construction materials and other objects stuck on its surface. The artist alternates between the color of human flesh and cement, indicating a sort of clash between the two. The focal point of the piece is a trampled nest, hanging under the dust and rubble.