Photo: Giorgio Benni
The colorful serendipity of Roman life is at the center of the recent body of work of Rome-based artist and fashion designer Gilbert Halaby. Titled Une Comédie Romaine and comprising 30 new paintings depicting the myriad encounters and idiosyncrasies of everyday Roman life, Halaby’s debut exhibition in Rome opened on June 1 at Maja Arte Contemporanea. The showcase follows Domus Berytus, his first ever exhibition staged in March this year at Beit Beirut in Lebanon. His new paintings depict priests on bicycles and vespas with their robes blowing in the wind alongside nuns, beggars, and eminent personalities who have made Rome their home. Spot Italian artists Isabella Ducrot, Enzo Cucchi, Inés Fontenla, Margareth Dorigatti and writer Kate Singleton. Meanwhile, Princess Soraya of Afghanistan, the granddaughter of Soraya Tarzi, former Queen of Afghanistan, rides a bicycle while wearing a green robe and an Afghan Pakol.
Photo: Giorgio Benni
“What you see on these canvases is a moment that I steal from reality; it’s the movement of a body and the drapes that cover it,” says Halaby. “Those drapes are poems that were written through centuries, and they still fascinate me. I see them, they stop me, and I cannot but paint them under a bright light with no shadows or shades and no hesitation. They are moments of light in my every day as a spectator to what I call the Comedy of Life.” Over the last few years, Halaby has turned his attention back to his first love: painting. The self-taught artist spends much of his time in his studio a few doors away on Via di Monserrato 123. There, he produces canvases laden with his abstract expressionist and figurative narratives rendered with bold and vibrant colorings reflecting the myriad states of everyday life.
Photo: Giorgio Benni
Born in Lebanon in 1979 and growing up during the civil war, Halaby, who has built a successful accessories and fashion brand, always dreamt of becoming an artist. After studying archaeology in Lebanon, he traveled to Rome and became awe-struck by the city, calling it “love at first sight.” In 2003, he moved from Beirut to the Eternal City, and in 2010, he opened his much-loved accessories boutique on Via di Monserrato 21 in the heart of Rome’s historic center.
Une Comédie Romaine, Halaby is on view until July 15, 2023
