Using mixed media on paper, Ismail creates a stirring composition. With an expressive attention to muted, yet warm colours and texture that creates depth, the layered arrangements demonstrate his technical prowess. Executed in 2013, Untitled 16 depicts seven highly stylized faces, one of which remains obscured in the shadows. Above the shadowy figure rests a rooster. The rooster possesses important symbology across his oeuvre, representing the cyclical nature of life. These have become defining hallmarks of Ismail’s work.

A master of various mediums, Nazir Ismail (Syrian, b. 1948 - d. 2016) portrays subjects from Syria’s contemporary religious and socio-political landscape. The artist explores themes of confusion, unease, and loss, primarily through a blend of abstraction and figuration.

From an early age, he frequented the studio of the folk artist Abu Subhi Al Tinawi, which neighbored his grandfather’s home. This early exposure led him to begin his own practice as a self-taught artist in the 1960s. His debut exhibition was hosted in Beirut, where he then lived and worked. Refining his practice over time, he developed his own distinctive style consisting of earthy tones and a unique expressionist technique, painting human or animal figures in the tradition of ancient Syrian sculpture. 

Ismail’s work has travelled to cultural capitals around the world featuring in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Retrospective exhibitions of his work were held in 1969 and in 1996 at the Goethe Institute in Damascus. He recently passed away in his native Syria in 2016.