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Mazen Khaddaj
b. 1985, Lebanon

Mazen Khaddaj (b. 1985) is a multidisciplinary Lebanese artist working in painting, performance, video art, and installation. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design from the American University of Science and Technology in Beirut in 2008. His background includes working as an Art Director in multinational advertising companies for several years before eventually dedicating himself fully to the arts.

Khaddaj’s paintings are a play between textures and color, transparency and flatness. His work manifests human thought and interaction through figuration, which appears abstracted and dissipating, intersecting yet secluded. Subsequent video performances and installations are extensions of the work on canvas; what is inherent to still surfaces translates into mutable forms.

Mazen Khaddaj is currently living in Berlin, Germany, where he is practicing his art. He still has strong ties to the Middle East and continues to engage in artistic activities there.

Artist Statement

My paintings are a quest to find myself. And when I paint, I am always in a meditative state. It is as if my body is a tool connected to a higher power. Most of my paintings are self-portraits expressing my emotional struggles and the hunger to be connected to land, love, sex, spirituality, and a purpose.

My art is the documentation of my existence. It gives form and color to what was once just a thought. It is the extension of my biological being and is of equal importance!

Education

2004 - 2008 BA in Graphic Design at The American University of Science and Technology, Beirut, Lebanon
2018 - 2019 Guest student at The Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig, Germany

Solo Exhibitions

2023 "New Self Found", Urbanist Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2022 “Backbone” at Blake & Vargas, part of Berlin Art Prize, Berlin, Germany
2022 “Displaced Identity” at 31927_2 Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2021 “Backbone” at Oyoun, part of Soura Film festival, Berlin, Germany
2021 "Visible Thoughts", KunstKan Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2020 "Lutzner Street 7", Albareh Art Gallery, Manama, Bahrain
2020 “I am a Foreigner”, WerkStadt, Berlin, Germany
2019 “I End to Begin”, 392Rmeil393, Beirut, Lebanon
2017 “I am a Foreigner”, GAPGAP, Leipzig, Germany
2016 “Emotion in Motion”, Artspace Hamra, Beirut, Lebanon
2015 “The Middle State”, 392Rmeil393, Beirut, Lebanon
2015 “The Middle State”, The University Of Balamand, Balamand, Lebanon
2013 “Bonds”, Art Circle, Beirut, Lebanon

Group Exhibitions

2022 “Ballast” at Soil Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA
2022 “Fluidity” at Kib Raum Fur Kunst, Berlin, Germany
2021 "Die Suche nach der inneren Heimat“, Lichthausehalle, Halle, Germany
2020 “5Rooms/ 5Artists”, Die Fabrik, Berlin, Germany
2020 “Delicious Procession”, Kinstkraftwerk, Leipzig, Germany
2019 “You’re not my Real Sun”, A&O Kunsthalle, Leipzig, Germany
2019 “Located - Dislocated”, Krudebude, Leipzig, Germany
2018 “Conversations With Self”, Albareh Art Gallery, Manama, Bahrain
2018 "42 Contemporary Artists”, Berlin, Germany
2017 “KUDUS”, Grand Cevahir, Istambul, Turkey
2016 “Summer collective”, Artspace Hamra, Beirut, Lebanon
2015 “Hot House”, Pilotenkuche/ Spinnerei, Leipzig, Germany
2013 “Compilation2013”, Art Circle, Beirut, Lebanon

Awards/Festivals

2022 Berlin Art Prize 22 nomination for my exhibition “Backbone”
2021 Honorable mention award for the Video Installation The Artists Are Not Present by the jury of The Golden Cube of Kassler Dokfest 37
2020 This Is An Intervention, Pandemic Films, Berlin, Germany, Today Olives Tomorrow Olives Everyday Olives video performance

Museums

2019 Grassi Museum, Leipzig, Germany, Spot The Foreigner video installation
2019 Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig, Germany, The Laundry Room, solo show
MACAM Contemporary Art Museum, Lebanon, The Eye video Installation, part of their permanent collection

Mazen Khaddaj b. 1985, Lebanon

Mazen Khaddaj
b. 1985, Lebanon