Arleb by Nabad interviews visual artist Chris Assoury, who believes that art highlights everyday’s facts, especially what is beneath the noticed and the unnoticed, the seen and the unseen, the heard and the unheard. Art for Assoury is a combination of truth, freedom, passion, new experiences and emotions.

Arleb by Nabad – What is the experience that has influenced your work the most, and which subjects are you working on?

Chris Assoury – Distorted memories for the experience, and the themes I am working on are memory, environmental sounds, and daily life.

Arleb by Nabad – What is your creative process like? 

Chris Assoury – I work upon the concept I have in my mind, most of my concerns and thoughts lead me to work. Instead of writing or talking about the questions I have, I express them in my artworks as a start, then every step leads to another and every idea can be the gate to a new one. Sometimes I work constantly, some other times I simply freeze to come back later and put all what I stored in my mind into my artworks. 

Arleb by Nabad – What was the impact of the Beirut port explosions (August 4, 2020) on your work as an artist/creative enterprise? 

Chris Assoury – The Beirut port explosion brought back all the shattered memories from my past, paralyzed the large scale installations I was working on, and made me shift to small scale drawings that reveal my daily life thoughts. 

Arleb by Nabad – What are, according to you, the roles of arts and culture in social, economic, environmental or political change? 

Chris Assoury –  When it is genuine and free, art can highlight the hidden or unnoticed events, and can speak the truth away from all the barriers. Since art is always influenced by the surrounding events, it could be the link between the artist and the people around. The concept behind any artwork can make an important change, and change can be applied to all the sectors, that’s what matters. 

Arleb by Nabad – What are, according to you, the main challenges/obstacles facing artists/creative enterprises in Lebanon nowadays? 

Chris Assoury – People in Lebanon are struggling every day. The unstable political situation, the corruption, the post-blast trauma, the economical crisis, and the Covid-19 pandemic are all factors that turned everyone’s life upside down. Lebanese people are worried about their living, and about how to provide a decent life for their families, a reason that unfortunately turned the attention away from art. In addition to that, art supplies became super expensive and the local market can’t afford this.

CHECK OUT CHRIS ASSOURY PROFILE AND ARTWORKS FOR SALE ON ARLEB.