Literature

Painter, Tagreed Darghouth, uses abstract impressionism and impasto layers applied with gestural brushstrokes to tackle topics concerning structural violence, popular culture, and the marginalised.

In the wake of the Beirut explosion Darghouth was preoccupied with parallel concepts which have culminated in new bodies of work: Beirut Silos, The Explosion and To My Father, From Van Gogh’s Bouquets. Working with acrylic on paper as well as canvas the artist continues her unabashed social commentary, reflecting upon that which she encounters on the streets of Beirut and beyond and ushering it into expressionistic figuration. Darghouth regularly connects far-flung influences from literature, philosophy and music to her personal experiences.

The To My Father, From Van Gogh’s Bouquets series, pays tribute to Tagreed’s father who loved flowers immensely and is a loose interpretation of Van Gogh’s paintings of roses, flowers, and bouquets. Shortly before Van Gogh's release from the asylum at Saint–Rémy he began to paint roses as a process of healing and means of coming to terms with both his illness and himself. As he entered into the final stages of recovery, he wrote to his brother Theo, that he had "worked as in a frenzy. Great bunches of flowers, violet irises, big bouquets of roses..." The series is underpinned by Darghouth’s immense sense of personal and collective loss; loss of her father and also loss of the Lebanon of the past that her father knew and loved.

“To My Father, From Van Gogh’s Bouquets” is a tribute to my father who passed away last year. He had hope. While waiting for the war to end, he filled our garden with all sorts of flowers. The war never ended, but those painted flowers carry my father’s hope.

-Tagreed Darghouth 2022