Manhal Issa

Manhal Issa is a French artist of Syrian origin, born in 1969 in the Mediterranean city of Tartous. He has been painting since he was a child. At the age of 12, he gradually started to lose his eyesight and by the age of 15 he was almost completely blind.

At the age of 18, thanks to cornea transplants in both eyes carried out in Russia, he regained his sight. Manhal Issa describes this event as a rebirth. His ability to see the shades of colour returned. Afterwards, he pursued a degree in Fine Arts and graduated with honours from Damascus University in 1995, where he majored in Painting. Manhal Issa was determined to make up for the time lost because of his eyesight.

Arriving in France in 2000, he began creating sculptures with found objects; it helped him to overcome his fear of blurriness in his paintings.

In 2003 he received his second diploma after graduating with honours from Versailles School of Art in “sculpture”. In 2004, he began to work with Video Art. At the same time he continued to paint and arrange several exhibitions of paintings and videos in France and abroad, where he received several awards.

In 2008, he earned a Masters degree in “Plastic Arts and New Media” from Paris VIII University.

His pictorial vision of the human figure remains coherent and is based on a body in rapid motion which often appears as a human being or a wild animal jumping.

Manhal Issa lives in Paris, where he continues to create his art in these three media.

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A word from Manhal

Memories Of Cities 2017

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Cities will survive 

In spite of their destruction

 

They will not be replaced

In spite of the savage war that devours even the tarmac of their streets

 

Their light has engraved itself in my memory and on my heart,

Like art, love and dreams, never to be extinguished.