Edouard Souhaid
Edouard Souhaid (b.1994) is a Lebanese artist and architect based in Paris since 2015. He holds a degree from the École Spéciale d’Architecture (ESA) and a Master 2 from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de la Villette (ENSA-LV), with a focus on advanced research in the social sciences, further enriching his multidisciplinary practice.
Edouard’s interdisciplinary practice ranges from drawing, painting and sculpture. He focuses his attention on the expression of rhythm, movement and colors. Edouard’s preferred mediums span the spectrum of painting. He employs an array of techniques and surfaces, including canvas and wood, and dabbles in wood sculpture, initially conceived through computer-aided design (CAD). He also ventures into 3D sculpture, brought to life through innovative 3D printing techniques, aligning his craft with the tools of the contemporary era.
In addition to his artistic pursuits, he has actively contributed to the cultural landscape of Lebanon. In 2014, he co-founded MINAB, an art management initiative, and more recently, in 2018, he co-founded the Collective for Architecture Lebanon. CAL is an organization that facilitates interdisciplinary discussions across architecture, design, urban planning, and the humanities in the Arab World. CAL received the second prize for their proposal “100 Years Online” for the Lebanese pavilion at the Venice Architettura Biennale 2020 and published its first book in 2022 on national narratives in the Arab World.
Edouard’s abstract artwork has been exhibited in prominent venues, including the Beit Beirut Museum, as well as exhibitions in Ho Chi Minh City and Paris. He has also shared his research and expertise at conferences held at the American University of Beirut, the Musée cantonal de design et d’art appliqués contemporain (MUDAC) in Lausanne, and the European Union Parliament in Brussels.
In 2022, his career began in France with his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Arte Intemporal in Saint-Tropez in June and July, where the artist showcased about ten works. Following the success of this exhibition, it was re-exhibited at the Galerie Arte Intemporal in Megève in September and October 2022, featuring around fifteen works, including larger formats. Finally, in 2023, Edouard presented his first solo exhibition in Paris at the Galerie Belle Époque, where his two latest series were exhibited together, offering a comprehensive discovery of his graphic expression.
Edouard works with an abstract formal vocabulary where points, stains, drips, and overlays follow a visual logic governed by colour. He seeks rhythm in movement through fluid, almost automatic gestures, creating recognizable cellular figures with vibrant colours and a profusion of details. “Spontaneously, one form calls for another and responds to the next.” explains the artist.
His first solo exhibition in Beirut, “Micro-organisms,” delves into the immensely small, showcasing his ongoing research into biomorphic aesthetics and colourful compositions.
From the infinitely large to the infinitely small, any object viewed from a great distance becomes a point, and any object viewed up close transforms into bacteria, cells, organic forms, etc. Close to a molecular aesthetic, the artist explores the territory of the intimate, offering a subjective and dreamlike vision of the billions of cells and diverse organisms that make up our bodies.
Dense and dynamic, his compositions revolve around imaginary landscapes: flexible parcels expand with equal attention to both large spaces and the regions that compose them. His territories, seen from the sky and treated like maps, reflect the complexity of human-made structures. It’s as if we were looking inside human bodies through tools since abstraction involves seeing something from very close or very far.
His practice is transversal. He works with the flatness of the canvas in relief, which naturally leads him to bas-relief work in wood and then to 3D sculpture. These works, like wall appliqués or painting-objects, show the continuity of his research across different mediums.
Edouard is inspired by artists like Kandinsky for his attention to detail, Frank Stella for his movement, and Jean Arp for his creation of a simple formal system resonating with harmony. Trained in art history, he is also interested in the American Abstract Expressionist movement for their sense of rhythm and bodily involvement in the artwork.
