Q and A with Issa Halloum (303 words, 2 min. read)
1. We know you spent a lot of time outside Lebanon, was this a positive experience, and did it affect your artistic image in Lebanon?
I had a deep experience while living abroad where I met a lot of artists from different nationalities who interacted differently than artists in Lebanon. When an artist leaves Lebanon, they carry with them their internal light and play the colors that reflect the nature of the place they are in.
2. When looking at a painting by Jinan Khalil, is one supposed to read one story, or are we supposed to see many stories in one painting?
An artist never separates themselves from their surroundings and his/her society. In my paintings I speak and say what I cannot write, more like a visual scenary. Sometimes the artwork represents an inner deep world that wants to reach the unseen, and sometimes bit represents many stories. Finally, my painting is Jinan who may be painting her first death or her eternal joy or even it could be an earthly cry.
3. Who is the one person who affected your artistic career and how so?
The artist Chafic Abboud is the first person who embraced me artistically and I think he is the first artist who took Lebanon with him despite his residence in Paris.
4. Do you prefer getting to know your client, or do you prefer working through art galleries, or art dealers, or through mediators?
After having participated in multiple exhibitions both in the Arab and in the Western World, I now prefer to have a gallery which seriously cares about my works and takes care of promoting them.
5. Name for us what do you consider is your biggest achievement?
Art, the soul of life.
