By Marc Tarazi
The experience of the Lebanese artist Gebran Tarazi (1944-2010) is a mixture and synthesis of various artistic worlds; from contemporary modern art and abstraction in writing, to innovation and creativity, based on his initial artistic experience in the Tarazi family’s workshop for traditional Arab Levantine wooden arts. He has renewed the traditional geometric designs, introducing modernity into heritage and heritage into modernity; to become a completely independent artistic phenomenon, difficult to categorize until now, except as a school of artistic dialogue between the East and the West. As well, Gebran Tarazi calls for a preservation of the Maghreb and Levantine heritage on the one hand, and a good understanding and mastery of the meaning of artistic modernity on the other, and to reconcile them through creativity, innovation, contemplation and style.
It should also be noted that this Lebanese innovator in the field of modern Arab geometric abstract art, Gebran Tarazi, belongs to a family that has been interested for over 160 years in the Levantine art, notably geometry (arabesque) and the secret of floral motifs generally in woodwork, as well as the trade in Levantine-Arabic silver-encrusted copper antiques, some of his masterpieces bearing the Tarazi silver-encrusted name.
Moreover, Gebran Tarazi’s contemporary geometric work reflects a continuous, innovative and tireless effort over a period of fifteen years starting in year 1988. He accepted his social isolation and the artistic community’s rejection of his artistic innovations because he believed in the cause of Levantine art and its ability to evolve towards modernity, knowing that the search for his oriental identity was at the heart of his artworks.
In fact, Gebran Tarazi’s artworks have entered museums, notably the Arab Museum of Modern Art (Mathaf) in Qatar in 2015 with an comprehensive collection, in addition to another renowned international museum in 2023, as well as to his participation in the most important Arab art exhibitions. Besides, his paintings were exhibited in Paris in 2016, alongside the international artist “Vasarely” in recognition of Gebran Tarazi’s great contribution to the Arab modern art and its essence.
In 2023, the Beirut Museum of Art (BeMA), a major art project under construction in the heart of the capital, completed the transfer of Gebran Tarazi’s entire documents and achievements into a digital electronic archive that will be available for art researchers and historians to read and study. In addition, in 2024, Gebran Tarazi’s experience was included in the graduate curriculum of the public “Lebanese University” in recognition of his role as an ingenious, artistic and literature pioneer in the artistic history of Lebanon and the Arab world.
Furthermore, Gebran Tarazi is profound writer and a talented novelist in French literature, author of the novel entitled: Le Pressoir à Olives, published in Paris in 1996. He has contributed to the Arab culture in the context of his Christian Arab identity and its historical role in the Arab world. He has lived through many eras and cultures in the Royal Kingdom of Morocco, Damascus and Beirut, and all of this was reflected in his writings and art.
Gebran Tarazi’s journey is very intense. It is documented in two illustrated books published on his artistic career. The first being Variations Géométriques written by the artist, and published in 2007 by “Fine Art Publishing” in Beirut, Lebanon. In this book, he explained his perspective and philosophical artistic vision, an artistic manifesto entitled “Oriental Need”.
The second book is entitled Twelve Seasons, written by Morad Montazami, and published in Paris (France) by the Tarazi family in 2017 through “Zamân Books & Curating”.
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