Joseph MatarI was only ten years old when the magic world of colour was first revealed to me. It came in the year 1945 with assorted Indian inks of different ranges; it was my first experience, the experience of handling this medium with its magical effects, and so my life went on...
Thanks to University, my travels, my studies, the exhibitions, the press and my friends, every day and almost every instant brought a new experience. In my profession as an artist, painting as an art and as a medium of creation knows no end. But then another element came to add itself to colour, and my life found a new focus, in the blaze of light!
Colour, light, space, time, the whole cosmos and all existence, these come together as the ultimate experience which inflames me every day in my works. I speak of days, for the nights no longer exist for me. Light fills my soul with multicoloured dreams on the road to the portals of paradise itself. It leads me to the Creator of all things, the Creator who has allowed his creatures to become in turn creators.
I speak of creation in the domain of the Fine Arts, and here I speak of painting in particular.
Every work is a poem, for art is poetry "par excellence". At every dawn I must watch the sunrise and let light flood my soul as it bathes the universe.
I am a messenger of love and of light, being one of the many children of the sun.
May the sun live long in us and show itself by the light it sends; such is my daily prayer.
Joseph MATAR - 2001
1961 - Private show, JOUNIEH.
1964 - Carlton Hotel, BEIRUT.
1965 - Sacred Art Show, St. Joseph’s University, BEIRUT.
1966 - Sacred Art Show, Seminary of GHAZIR.
1967 - Town Hall, JOUNIEH.
1968 - Carlton Hotel, BEIRUT.
1970 - St. Joseph’s University, BEIRUT.
1971 - Town of AJALTOUN.
1972 - St. Joseph’s University, BEIRUT.
1973 - Carlton Hotel, BEIRUT.
1974 - Hispanic Cultural Center, BEIRUT.
1976 - August: at the Zahle Club, SAO PAOLO, BRAZIL.
1976 - July: at the Monte Libano, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL.
1976 - September: at the Belo Horizonte, BRAZIL.
1977 - Cultural Center, JOUNIEH.
1978 - Fish Grotto, JOUNIEH.
1979 - Casino du Liban.
1979 - Water-color Show at the A.T.C.L., JOUNIEH.
1980 - May: Higher Council for Culture and Science, KUWAIT.
1980 - May, June: Le Prisme Gallery, JAL EL DIB.
1980 - December: Saint Rafqa, JEL EL DIB.
1981 - April: Hispanic Cultural Center, BEIRUT.
1982 - May: Le Prisme Gallery, JAL EL DIB.
1983 - February: Hispanic Cultural Center, BEIRUT.
1984 - Le Prisme Gallery, JEL EL DIB.
1986 - Hispanic Cultural Center, BEIRUT.
1987 - Le Prisme Gallery, JAL EL DIB.1988.
1988 - Cultural Center, MIZIARA.
1989 - December: President’s Palace, BAABDA.
1990 - Brief activities in various Lebanese towns.
1991 - April: Drawings and studies, Le Prisme Gallery, JAL EL DIB.
1991 - September: Water-colors, KANO, NIGERIA.
1992 - February: Water-colors, IVORY COAST.
1993 - November: Foyer Franco-libanais, PARIS.
1995 - June: Le Prisme Gallery, JAL EL DIB.
1996 - February, Galerie Jade, rue des Trois Maries, LYON, FRANCE.
1996 - June: Matignon Gallery, SIN EL FIL.
1996 - April, May: Town Hall (Mairie), 8ème arrondissement, LYON, FRANCE.
1996 - October: Centre d’échange culturel ELAC, LYON. FRANCE.
1996 - October, November: Cité des artistes, MORESTEL, FRANCE.
1997 - March: Echos Gallery, JOUNIEH, LEBANON.
1997 - November: Galerie Jade, rue des Trois Maries, LYON, FRANCE.
1998 - May: Société Générale Libano-Européenne de Banque, SIN EL FIL.
1999 - January: Table d’hôte des caves de France.
1999 - May: Artisanat, JOUNIEH.
2000 - June: Artisanat libanais, JOUNIEH.
2001 - March: Villa Sursock, BEIRUT.
2001 - December: Town Hall, JOUNIEH.
2002 - October: ABU DHABI., U.A.E..
2002 - November: A.D.G. Gallery, BEIRUT.
2003 - A water-color by the artist, 32 x 50 centimeters, was sold for $900 at the National Apostolate of the Maronites (9-13 July, 2003).
2003 - December: Phoenicia Intercontinental Hotel, BEIRUT.
2004 - August: Musical evening, BEIT SHEBAB.
2004 - December: Surface libre Gallery, JAL EL DIB.
2005 - September: Al Ryad, SAUDI ARABIA, 27th September – 9th October , 2005.
2006 - June - Middle East University, Beirut Lebanon.
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