The resulting outcome followed a pattern in which the works became alienated from their own society and pushed to the periphery of existence. The catastrophic consequences of this and similar scenarios are rarely reported or covered by the media, largely because the victims are assumed not to exist. Such a situation calls for elaboration or a statement that conveys some measure of reflections upon an artistic life alienated by the ruling of a discriminate art order that imposes severe penalties and punishments exceedingly out of order and proportion, and with no source to resort or appeal to.

While the view from the land of adoption where the works were born and conceived permitted them little or no visibility, the view from the native land obliterated any sight of them. Lebanon, the country of my birth and the subject and theme of many of my paintings has no actual museum of contemporary art and has never expressed a need for one. The spacious stage of its theatre of operation is more than sufficient for the display of a wide variety of chaotic engagements and events that engulf the entire area. Its venerated ensemble and members hold a continuum of exhibitions and performances that embody scenes and acts of applicability beyond the plastic forms of any metaphysical activity. In the matter of painting, they regard its practice as an extraneous diversion outside the realm of serious affairs. They prefer to ignore it, and confine their energy and attention to the more serious practice of civil and uncivil wars and the whole appanage of chaos and self-indulgence. Therefore, they felt justified in finding little sense or purpose in the meaning of my work. However, in order to recompense whatever contributions I appeared to have made elsewhere in the world, they exacted a dear price that brought serious financial ruin to me and to my family.

In a scheme designed to alter the outlook of a city exhausted by the devastation of a protracted civil war, they razed to the ground my family’s property in Beirut and turned over the land to developers who appropriated it and arbitrarily imposed a ridiculous undervalue. Having deprived me of a rightful subsistence, they appeared unconcernedly indifferent to the pain they caused as if this is just another ongoing local event that I ought to accept. The ensuing consequences could only make matters worse and highlight some past and present downturns and obstacles.

The symptoms of decades of disregard and levity toward a soul engrossed in painting may reveal a clearer picture through a brief view in retrospect. Over the course of a long period marked by intense hostilities between East and West, standing between the opposable currents of two mutually exclusive cultures encircled a wide gap. The irreconcilable forces of two vastly different regions obstructed access to the art bursting in the middle ground and detached its roots from the respective soils of either. Isolated and trapped in the cold, the body of work was deprived accommodations in both.
Considered an outsider stripped the work of all its privileges.

In exercising the power of exclusion, the acting art authorities seem to adhere to a formula comparable to the one used by a power that refuses to recognize an entity that it disapproves of or considers illegitimate. While the situation in my case is not dissimilar, it does not appear to offer either disapproval or illegitimacy. In fact some of the most prominent figures representing several prestigious museums and galleries in New York and elsewhere stood awe-struck when they confronted my canvases. Many renowned artists, critics, poets, and scholars found an immense vista unfold before their eyes. In each situation, they all saw a compelling view situated in perfect harmony and relation with the world. The art in all its manifestations revealed the passion, the imagination, the innovation, and the fullness of truth in both the physical and spiritual aspect of things. These characteristics, however, also constituted traits whose elements were considered disturbing, dangerous and at odds with a commercial society.

During some of my earliest exhibitions in New York, a number of prominent figures in the art world expressed a particular concern in which they feared that the walls of commercial galleries might become frightened by the intensity, fury, and scale of the paintings. Over the course of time, this point of view evinced its reality. In 1974, years of works were pushed into the abyss when my New York studio was seized and its contents including over 700 paintings were destroyed.

The sacrificed paintings left deep scars on almost every canvas painted thereafter. While those who condemned them turned their back and occluded any sight or sound of the buried art, they couldn’t prevent the conception and birth of new paintings. Clinging tenaciously to an inner energy and working under unfavorable conditions and circumstances in various locations, I continued making paintings whose contents responded to the ongoing chaotic events aflicting humanity. The proceeding works, however, could not escape further discrimination and punishment throughout their peaks. The times spanning the years of their conception through the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s provide an idea about the depressed atmosphere that over hanged the air with endless wars and hostilities that continue unabated in threatening our planet, splitting nations and peoples, and assaulting the very essence of humanity. With so much of the turbulence emanating from the Middle East, the responding art facing them had to be held accountable.

Unwilling to examine works whose expressions of the human subject evoke ideas, experiences and visions that lend critical insights to an important intersection of our time and space, the persecuting authorities eliminated them from view and passed them over in silence. In espousing the principle of equal rights in the selection of the best and worst, they seemed quite certain to exclude works whose images appear foreign to biased eyes and disturbing to prejudiced minds. This policy became especially enforceable in the case of a painter pursuing a course outside the apparatus of a commercial system.

Moving independent of any current or trend, the work was taken to different environments where there was no fear of displaying disturbing visions and ideas. Held under the auspices of art institutions and museums in various countries, a series of major exhibitions traveled extensively for an extended period of time. They created their own relatedness and event exerting an impact that has been felt and noted by a wide circle of viewers. Those who came face to face with the paintings found no barrier that impeded their visions and instincts or one that intimidated their feelings and sensations. They recognized the disparity between works that speak for themselves and those exclusively based on the sayings of others. The documented testimonies of eyewitnesses who upheld their faith in the art disclose no confusion or contradiction about its merit. Neither the expression of the work nor the affirmation of attestation, however, could have any bearing on the imperative of autocrats disguised as connoisseurs and judges. In their capacity as artful authorities avowed to execute justice with eyeful prejudice, they disregarded the confluence of supporting evidence with unshakable malevolence.

Scorning as beneath their notice any work that has no famous name attached to it, they dispensed with the works as foreign and answering no real local needs. To prevent excess and access of work consisting of too much truth, they had to subdue and numb the conceptions that continue to flow freely and untrammeled by commercial falsification. In trying to fend-off an impending assault that may bury the existence of my works, I undertook the complex task of compiling, photographing and documenting several large series of paintings. While the visual documents allowed some light to be brought to the integrity of the original work and provided access through publications, they were dismissed out of hand for being at odds with the view that society needs know nothing about work that is not commercially promoted.

In a situation prolonged and intensified by continuous disregard or consideration, the flow of paintings was arrested as they were bursting at full pitch. Tons of art works and their author were forced to vacate their space and endure untold amount of anxiety, pain and humiliation. The crude trappings, which once constituted contempt, disdain and derision became a travesty overloaded with injustice, cruelty and indifference.

In a world with so much chaos, brutality, suffering and all sorts of exciting entertainment, how much of a role or function can be allocated to works that stand on their own and make their argument without outside interpretation?  How much has the massive commercialization of art prohibited the visibility of works that aspire to project a deep and meaningful relationship with the world today? How high a price must an artist pay for pursuing his ideas and visions of art? How many yards of canvas transmitting inmost emotions, experiences, and ideas must be sacrificed? How many gallons of paint, intellect, imagination and passion must be obliterated?

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