Artist Majd Kurdieh’s practice incorporates painting, drawing, and literature using recurring figures
that stand to tell a story, usually carrying a strong moral and positive reinforcement that the artist
projects into the world. Kurdieh’s works have always been figurative, with his earlier works being a
series of trials in realism, mythicism, and other fields. He paints recurring whimsical characters that
seem to narrate a story. Over the past four years, the artist has created a ‘cast of characters’, the two
main ones being the Fasaeen (Arabic for ‘tiny ones’). The stories told through the representation of
these figures are not specific stories that the artist references but rather ones that could apply to any
viewer, leaving room for personal interpretation. The Fasaeen, one boy (Fasoon) and one girl
(Fasooneh), always smiling despite the fact their world is filled with hardships, are usually accompanied
by other characters.
At first glance, the works seem cartoonlike and simple, however, upon further investigation, the viewer
is drawn into a complex world that the artist has been able to simplify, almost with a childlike
innocence.
Using a strong literary element within his works, Kurdieh joins the Fasaeen with a group of animals
that he paints. The group of characters comes together to make what the artist calls ‘The Very Scary
Butterfly Gang’. Using the paradox of a butterfly and it being very scary, Kurdieh touches upon harsh
topics with immense gentleness. He explains that ‘when the fragility of a butterfly scares you, you
become indifferent to the roars of a monster, you will busy yourself defending the rights of people to
maintain their humanity’. At the essence of all his work is a strong sense of human protection and need
to shed light on basic human rights and needs. The gang carries out small optimistic tasks like
removing thorns from the land and replacing them with flowers, or talking to the sun and the moon,
where the sun itself rises and sets at its own caprice, projecting a sense of freedom to the viewer.
Strongly poetic and very sensitive Kurdieh channels the multilayers of his emotions into creating
deeply humane art. The ingenuity of his paintings and drawings relays the artist’s candor and sincerely
draws attention to issues he feels deserve to be represented truthfully.
Recently, Kurdieh has featured in solo and group exhibitions at MADS Gallery, Milan, Italy (2021); Azad
Art Gallery, Cairo (2021; 2020); Egypt Art Fair (2022; 2021; 2020); BBA Gallery, Berlin (2019), Fann
A Porter, Jordan (2021; 2020, 2019); Fann-A-Porter, Dubai (2021; 2020, 2019, 2018, 2016), El-Sawy
Culture Wheel, Cairo (2019), and Athar Al Farasheh, Aleppo (2011), Sikka Art Fair, Dubai (2018) and
Art Bahrain, Manama (2019, 2018). His works are housed in public and private collections in the
Middle East and abroad, including HE Dr. Zaki Nusseibeh’s private collection and Atassi Foundation.
Born in Aleppo, Syria in 1985, Kurdieh lives and works in Amsheet, Lebanon.
