sumayyah samaha - Towering

sumayyah samaha

I was born in Shweir in 1939. I studied at A.U.B where I obtained my B.A. in 1960 I moved permanently to the United States in 1968 where I obtained a Masters degree at the University of Pittsburgh . In 1969 I moved to New York city where I still reside and work. I am primarily an oil abstract painter but I also use other media that include clay, wood, charcoal and a variety of mixed media. My abstractions are very painterly and have a feeling of landscapes. I have also made art that addresses the troubled situations in the Middle East that include Lebanon, Palestine/Israel and Iraq. The most poignant is the piece in water color and ink entitled “Pine trees don’t make pine nuts anymore” . The message of the piece is that our beautiful pine trees are in mourning because of the devastation that Lebanon has been through. SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2010 Art Circle Gallery, "Aesthetics: Art & Politics", Beirut, Lebanon 2008 Skoto Gallery, "Darkness Ushers Dawn", New York, NY 2007 Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba, "Love, Life and Pain", New York, NY 2004 Blink Gallery, "Personal Landscapes", Andes, NY 2002 Denise Bibro Fine Art, "Strange Fruit", recent paintings, Chelsea, New York, NY 2000 Denise Bibro Fine Art, Recent Paintings, Chelsea, New York, NY 1999 Denise Bibro Fine Art, "Beyond the Brush", Chelsea, New York, NY 1998 Farleigh Dickinson University, Paintings, Hackensack, NJ 1997 Denise Bibro Fine Art, Recent Paintings & Pastels, Chelsea, New York, NY 1995 Denise Bibro Fine Art, Recent Works, SoHo, New York, NY 1994 Denise Bibro Fine Art, "Landscapes: Where My Soul Roams", SoHo, New York, NY 1993 Kenkelaba Gallery, Four Artists-solo shows, New York, NY 1982 22 Wooster Gallery, "New York, NY 1981" , 22 Wooster Gallery, New York, NY 1981 22 Wooster Gallery, New York, NY MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS 2005 "In / Visible - Contemporary Art by Arab American Artists" Opening of The Arab American National Museum and Cultural Center Dearborn, Michigan (featured work: "Palestine Fence" see Works on Paper) 1994 Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, "American Abstraction: A new Decade", Loretto, PA