Tarek Butayhi

Tarek Butayhi was born in 1982 in Damascus, Syria. He graduated from the painting department of a Faculty of Fine Arts in 2006 and works mainly in portraiture, in painting and drawing, where colour defines form.

His portraits aim at the inner world of the sitter and are made quickly and expressively. Series include portraits of women in a soft, pastel palette and a family series developed after his return to Damascus from Beirut, and his subjects have included beggars, children sleeping in the street and rose sellers.

Art on 56th in Beirut showed his Women on Canvas in 2015 and held his solo exhibition Under the Same Roof in 2022. He has also held solo exhibitions in Syria and Kuwait, and taken part in group exhibitions in London, Istanbul and Cairo.