Jabre Capital Partners founder, CIO and CEO Philippe Jabre heads a Geneva-based multifamily office and independent wealth management firm. In his spare time, Philippe Jabre enjoys an eclectic array of hobbies and activities, including art collecting. This article will provide an overview of some of the most revered Middle Eastern artists, sharing details of their most famous works.
Ganzeer
Born in 1982 in Giza, Egypt, Ganzeer today lives and works in Houston, Texas, in the United States. He was 20 years old when the Arab Spring erupted across the Middle East, inciting millions of citizens to take to the streets, demanding dignity and change. During this period, Ganzeer rose to prominence as an active street artist, creating public artwork on the walls of Cairo. Like the British street artist Banksy, Ganzeer is known by a pseudonym. The English translation of Ganzeer means ‘bicycle chain’, his moniker underscoring the role of art in society as a mechanism that pushes change forward. The embedded video provides information on Ganzeer’s most famous works.
Farhad Moshiri
Farhad Moshiri is an Iranian artist whose works draw on the formal elements of pop art, commenting on the relationship between East and West. Renowned for his decisive and intricate technical style, Moshiri combines depictions of Middle Eastern artefacts with symbols of Western consumerism, his work weaving seemingly disparate styles and themes together. Currently based in Tehran, Farhad Moshiri returned to his homeland after studying in the United States in the 1980s. His work is an amalgamation of his experiences executed in a tone that is simultaneously critical and humorous. Driven by a desire to break down divides, Farhad Moshiri’s work is both playful and probing. The attached infographic contains an overview of Moshiri’s most famous works of art.
Tarek Al-Ghoussein
Born in Kuwait in 1962, Tarek Al-Ghoussein today lives and works in Abu Dhabi, having dedicated himself to the field of photography since the early 1980s. An NYU Abu Dhabi professor of visual arts with Palestinian roots, Al-Ghoussein’s works are characterised by their arresting use of space and palpable silence. With his back to the viewer, he confronts a range of different subjects, including vast seascapes and sprawling deserts. Notable projects undertaken by Al-Ghoussein include photographing all 250 of Abuu Dhabi’s islands, as well as his self-portraiture series dating back to 2002. Today, Tarek Al-Ghoussein’s work is displayed in the British and Guggenheim Museums, among others.
