About Fadi Elchamaa
Fadi Elchamaa
Fadi Bassam Elchamaa (b. 1960, Beirut) is a Lebanese painter who lives and works in Beirut. Born into a Damascene family, he began painting in the early 1980s. His paintings are known for their unconventional use of light and colour, unexpected forms and playful irreverence.
In 1997, alongside painting, Elchamaa began a career in advertising. He lived and worked in eight Arab cities: Beirut, Damascus, Khobar, Manama, Cairo, Riyadh, Casablanca and Doha. During these years, he discovered how diverse Arab identity is and how elusive any single definition can be. That revelation continues to inform his practice. He left advertising at the end of 2013.
Elchamaa uses a wide range of techniques, sometimes combining them on the same surface. Transparent washes are disturbed by opaque strokes; colour is rubbed, wiped and sanded away, while hard-edged marks cut through softer passages. Each layer alters what came before. For Elchamaa, this layering echoes the many influences that have shaped Arab cultures. As recognisable forms dissolve, a sense of presence emerges.
His practice extends to objects, installations and collaborative projects. For Transformations, presented at Joanna Seikali Gallery in 2011, he turned thirty large portrait paintings into coloured ropes and suspended them as an installation. In And Tomorrow Who Am I?, presented at Artlab in 2019, he opened an archive of approximately two hundred portraits, inviting visitors to curate the exhibition.
Together with artist Semaan Khawam, he co-founded Sleeping with the Enemy, a project that turns galleries into spaces of public painting, where visitors can witness art being made rather than only encounter finished works.
His solo exhibitions include Fuqa’a (Bubble) at Galerie Janine Rubeiz (2022), The Disappearing Act at Lynn Modallal Gallery (2023) and Summer Wine at Majaz Gallery (2025).
His work is represented in the collection of the Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation and in private collections in Lebanon, Côte d’Ivoire, the United States, France and the United Arab Emirates.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025
SUMMER WINE – Solo exhibition – Jul – Majaz Gallery Beirut
AFTERTASTE – duo show – FEB – Portico Gallery, MD-USA
2024
SANA HELWA – collective – May – Lynn Modallal Gallery Beirut
BREATHSCAPE – نفس collective – April – Lynn Modallal Gallery Beirut
2023
THE DISAPPEARING ACT – Solo Show – Lynn Modallal Gallery Beirut
VOLTA ART FAIR – NEW YORK – Walls House Of Art Gallery – NEW YORK
NOT TODAY – Collective show – Lynn Modallal Gallery – Beirut
LA TÊTE DANS LES NUAGES – Duoshow – Walls House Of Art – Abidjan
2022
HEY YOU يا أيها artist-curated collective show by Fadi Elchamaa – Dec 10, 2022
FUQA’A (bubble) – Solo exhibition – Galerie Janine Rubeiz Beirut – Nov 2022
PARIS LEBANON 1st Edition – Collective – 389LABOUTIQUE – curated by popup projects
ELECTICISM – Collective – DuneArtStation Dubai
DUBAI ART WEEK -Collective Artb Fltrd Gallery – Dubai
True Colors – Fltrd Gallery – Dubai – UAE – Curated by Joe Hayek
2021
MADMAN – Galerie BEIBAI – Shanghai – China – Curated by Angela Hsu
2020
THE COLLECTIVE – Galerie BeiBei – Shanghai – China
TABA3OD – 3 weeks of collaborative work with Semaan Khawam.
MAMNOU3 EL TEHZIB – 3 weeks live painting performance SWTE Beirut 15 Feb 2020
2019
AND TOMORROW WHO AM I? – Solo show, Public curated retrospective, 35 years of painting- Artlab gallery, Beirut, Lebanon 17 Oct 2019 – (watch)
A PEACE OF LIBERTY – Gebran Tueni Foundation, Maison Libanaise – Group show, Beirut, Lebanon, October 9
HOC EVA – Group show curated by Selena Cerami – London, UK June 2019
RAW – 3 weeks live painting performance – KAF Contemporary Art Gallery Beirut – June 2019
SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY – 3 weeks live painting performance – KAF Contemporary Art Gallery Beirut – March 2019
THE COLLECTIVE – KAF Contemporary Art Gallery Beirut – Lebanon
2018
FROM THE ARTIST’S STUDIO – Collective – KAF Contemporary Art Gallery Beirut
2016
DEVIATIONS – Solo show – Galleria Soul Egypt
ELCHAMAA VS KHAWAM – Rochane Gallery Beirut Lebanon
UTOPIAN IDENTITY – Gallerie 59 – Rivoli – Paris- France
AUCTION exhibit for AEC Beirut Lebanon – Sculpture
2015
STRANGE FRUITS – Wood Of Joy – Baabdat Lebanon
2012
MAPPING SOUL – Gallerie 59 – Rivoli – Paris- France
2011
TRANSFORMATIONS – Installation – Joanna Seikali Gallery – Lebanon Solo
1997
DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS – Rochan Gallery – Beirut, Lebanon
1996
SALON D’AUTOMNE – Sursock Museum Beirut, Lebanon
1995
FLOWERS ON THE FLOOR – Installation – Forum Art Show – Beirut, Lebanon
SALON D’AUTOMNE – Sursock Museum – Beirut – Lebanon
YARZEH – Yarzeh Art Gallery – Mount Lebanon – Lebanon