SERWAN BARAN

 Serwan Baran – born in Baghdad in 1968, An Iraqi Kurdish artist known for his vibrant and expressive artworks that explore themes of culture, politics and personal emotion. He studied at the College of Fine Arts at the University of Babylon, graduating in 1992, and then taught at the College of Fine Arts at the University of Baghdad for seven years. Baran participated in the Summer Academy at Darat al Funun in Amman, Jordan, in 2000, where he benefited from the guidance of the prominent Syrian artist Marwan Kassab Bashi. He also attended classes at the University of Baghdad under the supervision of Faik Hassan, where he learned many expressive and reductive forms and discovered the power of earthy colors that distinguished his art. He became a member of the International Association of Art, the Iraqi Fine Artists’ Association, and the International Network of Contemporary Iraqi Artists.
During the 1990s, Baran painted scenes of Iraqi popular culture using a mix of realism and expressionism, such as depictions of Bedouins in colorful attire and rural celebrations. He also addressed political themes, criticizing governments and politicians through strong symbols and icons.
In the early 2000s, Baran focused on painting horses in constant motion, using fluid brushstrokes and expressive abstract elements. Since 2003, Baran’s style has become more experimental with increasing interest in abstraction and sensitive subjects like tension and anxiety. In his solo exhibition “Living on the Edge” in Amman (2013), he expressed the contemporary state of the region through emotionally charged personal paintings. In the exhibition “Canines” in Beirut (2018), Baran used acrylics to create paintings that blend transparency with chaotic images of dogs.