Zaid Shawwa

He studied Engineering at the University of Jordan, and did his MBA at the American University in Dubai. His love and interest in art started at an early age, mainly working on portraits and landscapes in a classic form and using monochromatic shades of mainly charcoal as a medium. 

With time, he felt the need to free himself from the boundaries of classic form into the more abstracted interpretation of figures and surroundings. The early paintings of this stage were abstract expressionist for the most part, relying essentially on expressing the idea in a spontaneous, subconscious and natural way, not shying from the extensive use of color and materials to convey the message behind the painting.

 His style evolved into his present form that mainly combines the emotional intensity of abstract expressionism with the deconstructive nature of cubism, in a minimalist expression of the figure and its relationship with its surroundings, encounters and associations.

His paintings are mostly based on real moments in life, intensively sketched and studied to create an image that reflects a feeling rather than an act. He paints mainly using acrylic and oil, his canvases are usually treated with warm underlayment, with cooler colors on top, allowing some of the glow of the warmer shades to spell into the surface, probably portraying the reality of the human soul and what lies behind it.  
In his work, he aims to deliver ideas and feelings that are based on real experiences and that will live and have a meaning to the world.

Exhibitions:

1994: two Group Exhibitions, Ministry of Culture, Oman

1997: Group Charity Exhibition, Press Club, Ministry of Information, Oman.

2000: Collective exhibition, Press Club, Ministry of Information, Oman

2016: Collective exhibition, Wadi Finan Art Gallery, Amman, Jordan

2017: “Strings” Solo exhibition, Wadi Finan Art Gallery, Amman, Jordan

2018: Group exhibition, World Art Dubai, UAE

2018: Dual exhibition, Kalimat Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

2018: Beirut Art Fair, Wadi Finan Art Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon

2018: Group exhibition, W Hotel, through Wadi Finan Art Gallery, Amman, Jordan

2020: “Embodiment” Solo exhibition, Wadi Finan Art Gallery, Amman, Jordan