b. 1955, Hollywood, California, USA; lives in London
Maysaloun Faraj is an Iraqi-American painter, sculptor and curator living in London. Displaced by decades of war, Faraj creates work that is deeply rooted in her personal connection to Iraq,...
Maysaloun Faraj is an Iraqi-American painter, sculptor and curator living in London. Displaced by decades of war, Faraj creates work that is deeply rooted in her personal connection to Iraq, the intersection of place and identity, and overarching societal concerns. “Home” is a series of small-scale works on paper created during quarantine while the artist did not have access to her studio. Inspired by the “Stay Home Save Lives” campaign, these works depict interior spaces in her own home and create a diary for the search for peace and beauty amidst global turmoil. This series sparked the project, “StayHome: DrawHome!,” which invites artists and creatives to create portraits of their own environments as a way to seek out sources of inspiration. Despite great uncertainty, Faraj highlights the abundance of joy, humanity and solidarity still present globally.
Faraj received a BS in Architecture from the University of Baghdad (1978) and studied ceramic sculpture at Putney School of Art and Design. Faraj was also a resident artist at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (2015-2018). Her artistic career spans four decades and she has become an integral figure in the rise of contemporary Middle Eastern art, curating Strokes of Genius, the first international exhibition of Iraqi modern art which toured internationally (2000-3) and co-founded Aya Gallery, London to advance art from Iraq and the Middle East. Her work is in many major institutions, including The British Museum, London.; National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; and the Barjeel Foundation, Sharjah.