La Chambre

Painted in 2011, La Chambre is a representative work of Syrian artist Ziad Dalloul’s intimate, surreal, and dreamlike compositions. The artist invites viewers to explore a world where the visible and the imagined converge. Dalloul's masterful use of visual and sensory abundance probes the boundaries between the natural and metaphysical worlds. In his paintings, static objects, lived spaces, and ever-shifting landscapes intertwine, dispersing shimmering memories and igniting questions of humanity's bond with nature. Dalloul rejects the term 'nature morte' (still life), instead, he prefers the expression 'nature silencieuse' (silent nature), closer to the Arabic translation of the expression (al-ṭabīʿa al-ṣamita). Dalloul comments: ‘Painting a landscape on one's canvas is not an end in itself. You have to step into the landscape to see it from the inside, deconstruct it in order to reconstruct it, in accordance with our imagination and memory, which is inseparable from the representation of any work of art.’

Graduating from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus in 1977, Dalloul taught art in Algeria before moving to Paris, where he obtained a degree from the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in 1987. He has exhibited internationally in Paris, Italy, Belgium, Damascus, Jordan, Abu Dhabi, Egypt and Hong Kong. His works are included in prominent public collections, including the British Museum, London; the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman and Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah.