Chaouki Chamoun

Chaouki Chamoun (January 19, 1942 in Sareen, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon), is a prominent Lebanese contemporary artist.

After attending art and design night schools, he joined the Fine Art Institute at the Lebanese University in Beirut in fall1968 where he received his Diploma of Higher Studies in Painting in 1972. The first in his class he was awarded a six years fellowship from the Lebanese University to pursue his graduate studies in the United States. In 1975 he received his Master of Fine Arts from Syracuse University, New York, majoring in Painting with emphasis in Sculpture and Ceramics. From 1975 to 1979 he followed the studies in the PhD program at the Art Education Department, New York University, NY Concentrating on Aesthetics and Studio Art. Where he was awarded a Meritorious Commendation for High Scholastic Achievement

He has had over thirty One Man Shows to his name since 1975 in Lebanon and abroad, exhibiting continuously at and represented by major art galleries in Beirut. Chamoun’s Art has been part of the national and international art scene. He has participated in over fifty group Art Shows and biennales since 1968 to include: Rochester Memorial museum, Lowe Art Centre, Syracuse 1975, Soursouk Museum, Beirut, 1984, 2001, 2006, 2008, Europ’Art, Geneva 1999, Al-Khorafi International Arabic Biennale, Kuwait, 2006, Sotheby’s Exhibit and Auction, London Oct. 2007. Christie’s, Exhibit and Auction Dubai,October 2007 and April 2008. Art Paris Exhibit, Abou Dhabi Nov. 2007and Nov. 2008. Alexandria Biennale 2008. His work is in many public and private Art Collections in many countries. Chamoun has to his name many high profile Architectural and interior design projects to include, Dress Barn, Suffern, NY 1992-2004, Bloomingdale, Bloomington, Minnesota,1991, Sacks Fifth Avenue, NY1987, Jordan Marsh, Newington, NH,1982 Scarborough’s, Austin Texas,1979.

He is the president of the Lebanese Artists Association, consultant and founding member of the Lebanese Artists Syndicate and a member of ASK, Kingston, NY. Chamoun has taught Art at Syracuse University, USEK University, Kaslik, Lebanon, Lebanese University, Lebanese American University, Beirut and the American University of Beirut, Beirut. He is a golfer and member of Lebanon Golf Club with several local and international trophies to his name. He gained his Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts at the Lebanese University, his Masters degree at Syracuse University and did his Ph.D. work at New York University. Thereafter, he has worked at various universities, design centers, and has exhibited his in the United States, London, and throughout the Middle East.

Canvas Magazine

About chaouki chamoun:

The constant traveler

In the mid-1930s, an Oxford University professor conceived an entire world populated by good, evil, greatness and humility; this world became the epic The Lord of the Rings. Over half a century later, a New Zealand film director brought the sweeping vistas and overwhelming landscapes to life on screen. Fans of JRR Tolkien's literary magnum opus and Peter Jackson's cinematographic tour de force can relate to the paintings of Chaouki Chamoun. Just as these storytelling masters presented the world - in prose and film - with a mythical earth based on mortal virtues, the perpetual search for truth and goodness and a profound respect for nature, so too does Lebanese-born Chamoun through his wistful paintings.

Expansive terrains of vibrant oceanic vistas, arid desert landscapes and snow-blanketed winter panoramas fill his canvases. But there are people in his paintings too - diminutive figures, just big enough to decipher, lined along the bottom. "Tourists?" I ask. "I love the word 'tourists'," he smiles, "we are all tourists in this world and whether we like the term or not, we are in fact always wandering." He picks up painting after painting but suddenly frowns. "I haven't watched The Lord of the Rings," he says, a little frustrated.

Chamoun's 'tourists' are dwarfed by the topography they stand against - an intentional metaphor on the artist's part to illustrate man's minuteness in the face of nature's power.In this way, he offers man humility and holds nature in unequivocal esteem. "However important art may be in terms of technical purposes, end results and a thorough comprehension of materials, our main sources of inspiration are man and nature,"...

External links

• Chaouki Chamoun's Webpage
• Art in Lebanon
• [1]
• Olyvia Fine Art
• Canvas Magazine
• Chaouki Chamoun on Artnet