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Layla Nseir was one of the first women in Syria to achieve institutional recognition in the country’s national art movement. Her expansive artistic career and deft mastery of different styles (specifically Realism, Expressionism, Surrealism) has made her one of Syria’s most remarkable artists. She works around the themes of life and death, gruelling human struggle, and the experiences of the working class. Experimenting with various materials and techniques, Nseir is known for depicting women in her paintings in unorthodox portrayals – in later stages of pregnancy, as workers, or even martyrs. Breaking from cultural norms of the time, she has never shied away from controversy in her work or in life. In an interview she explains: “I refused the labels: a ‘male artist’ and a ‘female artist’. I was the first woman in Syria who wore trousers, and I used to sit at the Al Rawdah Café wearing my very tight pants. I was bold, reckless, and out of the ordinary in the whole Arab world. My main concern was to open doors for others.” Nseir began drawing at the age of 14, mostly self-taught. She received a government scholarship to study in Egypt and graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo in 1963. The influence of her time in Egypt can be found in her later work, as she draws on Egyptian mythology to allegorically illustrate contemporary issues. Beginning her career during the height of Syrian modernism, she rubbed shoulders with fellow pioneers such as Louay Kayali and Mahmoud Hammad. She remained an important and active figure in her country’s burgeoning art scene. Nseir’s works are found in public collections including the National Museum of Damascus and Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah as well as in numerous private collections throughout the Middle East, Asia, Europe and North America. She has an extensive exhibition history, participating in venues all around the world.
