Fadi ElChamaa
Fadi paints using wooden sticks to represent abstract states of being; the many personalities he encounters along the way with their chaotic emotional landscape.
Lebanese, born in Beirut, 1960.
During his early youth (1974) Fadi played with photography and spent most of his time in the darkroom. Instead of being out taking photographs and developing them he preferred creating his own images using light and chemicals. This hobby developed into a passion of making things out of any reaction or interaction by interweaving techniques of darkroom process with painting.
In the 90’s he was invited to Apeldoorn, Netherlands in the labs of Royal Talens to learn advanced theory and practice of pigments and binders. This unique, alchemistical knowledge provided his entry to academia. In institutions such as Beirut University College, Lebanese University, American University of Beirut, and Académie Libanaise Des Beaux-Art, he taught on subjects pertaining to importance of technology in the creative process.
He participated in many collective art shows in Lebanon during the 90’s and exhibited in 1994 in one of the first art installations in Beirut; a 22 meter painting on the floor for people to walk on (Forum Art Fair)
Thanks to his friend Roy Haddad he traveled the Arab world for 15 years to live and work in 8 Arab cities as a creative and artist.
During all these years he stopped exhibiting but continued to paint.
Today he lives and works in Beirut.