As part of the sale "From Beirut Art + Design scene" on Wednesday, September 30, 2020, PIASA proposes a selection of emblematic artists that illustrates the dynamism and diversity of Lebanese contemporary creation.
Born in 1968, Serwan Baran spent the first years of his life in Iraq. He entered the University of Babylon in Hillah and became familiar with artistic techniques and art history. Upon graduation, the young man saw his work quickly presented to the public in several cities in Iraq. At the time of the American invasion in 2003, the artist decided to leave his native country and went into exile in Amman, Jordan. After a few months, he finally settled in Beirut, Lebanon.
As a cathartic work, the paintings of this Kurdish artist are an effective means of exorcising traumas and the psychological scars of the atrocities of the conflict and the crisis they caused. The world imagined by Serwan Baran is both disturbing and tormented.
Among his works that PIASA is offering for sale in this selection of Wednesday, September 30, 2020, Untitled, created in 2020, features a wounded soldier sitting in an armchair. White bandages surround his left arm and the top of his skull. Military registration numbers wander through the gray and black background. On the floor that seems to slide vertically, a trace of blood testifies to the violence that must have preceded the moment chosen by the artist. This piece, characteristic both for its workmanship and its subject, has been estimated at between 12,000 and 18,000 euros.
In Untitled, another work painted in 2019, Serwan Baran depicts two men dressed in blue. Their hands tied behind their backs indicate that they are prisoners. Contrasting with the theme, a certain chromatic softness emerges from this proposed canvas with an estimate of between 2,000 and 3,000 euros.
A credible indication of the quality of his work, Serwan Baran was chosen to represent Iraq at the Venice Biennale in 2019.
