About - Lukman Ahmad's Portfolio

Biography Of Lukman Ahmad

Through expressionism and imagination, Lukman presents the spectrum of a human experience, and invites the viewer to know another culture. From a brush, music, dance, laughter, suffering, compassion, and passion, incite the viewer’s eye to experience from a story of a people – a people forgotten and without a nation, yet a people that has retained a rich and full culture.

Syrian born, Lukman reflects the Kurdish experience as well as the human experience. Self-educated, and deeply in touch with his people and with the intertwined surrounding cultures, he expresses imagination and experiences with authenticity, allowing color and movement to tell the story, be it one of pain or of happiness, of contemplation or passion. He combines symbolism and imagination, color and rhythm, to transport the viewer into the world he lived and the emotions he witnessed.

With over 45 exhibits in various countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan, Switzerland, Lebanon and the United states, he strives to deliver that spectrum of life. Galleries and exhibits have ranged from solo exhibits such as in Washington, D.C. with the Foundary Gallery (2012), the Voice of America building (2015), and the Jerusalem Fund Gallery (2013); and group exhibits such as the West Branch Gallery and Sculpture Park in Stowe, Vermont (2016), Artomatic in Maryland (2012, 2015, and 2016), the Ackland Art Museum with the University of North Carolina (2011), and the workhouse Art Center in Virginia (2014), The Jerusalem gallery, Washington DC (2013-2019) and Artfactory, VA (2022)

Lukman’s work is art with purpose. With each exhibit, he maintains sight of art’s value and its role in the human experience. His work reflects that value as a path to understanding oneself and one’s environment, and as a method to show the Kurdish experience and to remove conflict and suffering. Purpose, value, and vision, through symbolism, expressionism, and color.

Throughhis experience, which began to change after the outbreak of the civil war inSyria, especially in the struggle against terrorism in his Kurdish region inthe northeast of Syria, he is trying to highlight the human rights violationsduring the wars. Along with his colorful paintings and expressive emotion, theblack color also offers the tragedy of death and hope together in his currentpaintings.

Hisexperience depends not only on the aesthetic aspect, but also on its culturaldimension and how to use cultural and cognitive tools to make art a positiveapproach to a civil culture based on human values of respect and acceptanceof the other in addition to the aesthetic sophistication of the artistic work.

He is working with VOA since 2014 –Kurdish service

Exhibitions :

GroupExhibitions:
· Cosmo - Bernama Kurdi- Koln-Germany 2018
· Ameriprise Financial- With Amr Mounib-Virginia 2017
· Syrian Event – Syrian Culture –Washington D.C. 2017
· Voice of America 75thanniversary (Live painting) – Washington D.C. 2017
· American Arabesque -City OfAlexandria, Virginia 2016
· Artomatic –art festival –Maryland-2016
· The Center Gallery of UnitarianUniversalist Church, Virginia 2016
· Alwan Foundation, New York, 2016
· The Jerusalem gallery, Washington D.C.2016
· Art in Exile, Vermont 2016
· Art in Exile, Washington D.C. 2015
· Artomatic 2015, Maryland 2015
· The Jerusalem Fund Gallery,Washington. DC, 2014
· Workhouse, Art Center, Lorton,Virginia 2014
· Arab-American Day -Ronald ReaganBuilding & International Trade Center Washington D.C, 2013
· Workhouse, Art Center, Lorton,Virginia 2013
· Iraqi Culture Center, Washington, DC,2013
· Fourth Annual Kurdish Youth Festivalin California, 2013
· Kurdish Art Festival in Nashville,Tennessee 2012
· Artomatic, Art Festival- Crystal City,Virginia 2012
· Fond Del Sol, Visual Arts Center inWashington DC 2012
· Arlington Arts Gallery inVirginia 2012
· Third Annual Kurdish Youth Festival inWashington, DC, 2012
· The Jerusalem Fund in Washington DC,2011
· “The Iraq beyond Conflict” workshop, NorthCarolina, UNC 2011.
· Ackland Art Museum, NorthCarolina, UNC 2011
· The Art league, Alexandria, Virginia2010-2011
· Kurdish Festival of Art in Washington,D.C. in George Mason University 2010
· A Show of Hands ( Locally Made Craftand Artwork) in Alexandria, Virginia 2010
· Badrakhan's 7th Kurdish Festival inWashington DC 2010
· The new Arts Center in Hasaka, Syria2010
· The Culture Center, Afrin, AleppoSyria 2005
· Zentrum 5 Gallery, Bern, Switzerland2004
· Khan Al-harir Festival, Aleppo,Syria (2003, 2004)
· Taha Altaha Museum, Ar-Raqqah, Syria(2003, 2004, 2005)
· The Russian Culture Center, Damascus, Syria 2003
· The Culture Center, Bishineen, Hama,Syria 2003
· The Culture Center, Masyaf, Hama,Syria 2003
· The Cultural Center, Afrin, Aleppo,Syria 2003
· Khanchy Gallery for Arts, Aleppo,Syria 2002
· Al-Sharq Gallery, To honorAbdullrahman Drei, Aleppo, Syria 2001
· Ebla Gallery for Arts, Aleppo, Syria(2001, 2002, 2003, 2006)
· Feyrouz Shamoun’s Gallery, Zahle,Lebanon (1999, 2000, 2001)
· The Cultural Center, Hasaka, Syria1999
· Kurdish Festival Art and Culture,Qamishli, Hasaka, Syria 1998

Solo Exhibitions:
. Artfactory- Virginia , 2022
· The Jerusalem Fund Gallery, Washington.DC, 2019
· Lappop gallery – Washington DC 2019
· Scandinavia House, New York 2018
· The Jerusalem Fund Gallery,Washington. DC, 2018
· Syra Art Gallery – Washington D.C.2017
· Voice of America – Washington D.C.2017
· Gallery of Unitarian Universalist Churchof Arlington, Virginia 2015.
· Voice of America, Washington D.C.2015.
· Crossroad Gallery, Virginia 2014
· Workhouse, Art Center, Lorton,Virginia 2013
· Margaret W.& Joseph L. Fisher ArtGallery, Virginia, 2013
· The Jerusalem Fund Gallery,Washington. DC, 2013
· Foundry Gallery, Washington D.C. 2012
· Hilton Alexandria Mark Center ,Virginia 2011
· Hasan-Keif Festival, Batman, Turkey2009
· Yilmaz Gunay Cinema Gallery, Batman,Turkey 2008
· D.S.M Gallery, Diyarbakir, Turkey 2007
· Hasan-Keif Festival, Batman, Turkey2007
· Ebla Gallery for Arts, Aleppo,Syria 2006
· The Cultural Center, Qamishli, Hasaka,Syria 2006
· The Cultural Center, Ras Al-Ain,Hasaka, Syria 2005
· The Cultural Center, Hasaka,Syria 2004

Stories Behind Arts

Artist Statement

Through expressionism and imagination,I present the spectrum of a human experience, and invite theviewer to know another culture. Through my brush, music, dance, laughter,suffering, compassion, and passion, incite the viewer's eye to experience astory of a people - a people forgotten and without a nation, yet a people thathas retained a rich and full culture, and in another hand is Syrian conflictsince 2011, which has a big influence on my painting and expression.

I am deeply in touch withmy heritage, and with the intertwined surrounding cultures around whichI lived. My paintings aim to expressmy experiences with authenticity and imagination, and to allow color andmovement to tell the stories I witnessed, whether it was one of pain or ofhappiness, of contemplation or passion. My work transports theviewer through color, rhythm, and symbolism, into the world I lived andthe emotions I felt.

My homage and deep sense of belonging toKurdish land is emphatically portrayed in my painting style - a swinginggraceful dancer painted in colorful fluid shapes alongside a galloping horse;contrasted with a heaviness of a grief-stricken woman recently widowed, cloakedin black, and fronting desert sands where her loved ones rest.

Using Format