Artist's Statement
My current body of work focuses on the human figure. I am interested in the emotive qualities of body gesture, colour and mark making.
My work is a quest to subvert the specific in search for the universal. Each piece is a search beyond mere appearance, attempting to connect the vulnerability, fragility and impermanence of the individual with a sense of common and shared humanity. My work-making process embraces both the familiar and the unexpected, and combines observation, memory and intuition. My aim is that each piece develops a visual presence that is independent of me, or my original artistic intentions, so that the viewer can continue the search that I have initiated.
I work primarily in oils but also make unique works on paper using monotype and other print media.
In a review of the most recent solo show ‘A Life More Human’, the art critic Duncan Macmillan wrote in The Scotsman - ‘The Paintings are richly coloured but roughly brushed so that the figures, while vigorously present, also seem to be struggling to preserve their identity in the stream of time and space.These are existentialist pictures, reflecting the individual search for stable identity in the flux of experience. This is equally striking in the artist’s prints of sparely drawn and partly erased figures and his remarkable sculptures.’
Giles Sutherland writing in the Times (November 2019) ‘His subjects are people and their relationships, either to each other or to the artist. The images are tender and full of emotional maturity. Each is carefully considered and composed; they look outward to the world and inward to the artist’s humanity. They celebrate life and implicitly value its impermanence, conscious of their ability to endure beyond the lifetime of Jabbour and those that inhabit his works.’ Giles Sutherland - The Times (November 2019)
Art Education
Master of Fine Arts (Painting and Printmaking), New York Academy of Art 2013-2015
Diploma in Drawing and Painting, Leith School of Art 2010-2013
PhD Animal Physiology, The University of Sydney 1989
Bachelor of Science (Distinction), The American University of Beirut 1982
Solo and 2 Person Exhibitions
2022 ‘Saturation Point’, Pontone Gallery, London, England
2021 ‘In Reverentia’, a Two-Person show, Campden Gallery, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, England
2020 ‘Traces Remain’, Pontone Gallery, London, England
2019 ‘A Life More Human’, Union Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
‘Being Human - Observed, Remembered, Imagined’ a 2-Person show with Joyce Gunn Cairns, Smithy Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
2017 ‘Markings’, Galerie Alice Mogabgab, Beirut, Lebanon
‘This Life to Me’, Union Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
‘Empreintes’, La Reine Blanche Scene des Arts et des Sciences, Paris, France
Group Exhibitions
2022 Pontone Gallery, London, England
Printmaking, Fidra Fine Art, Gullane, Scotland
Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, England
Pastel Society Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, England
2021 ‘Art Miami’, Pontone Gallery, Florida, USA
The Biennial Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize Exhibition
Pontone Gallery, Opening Exhibition, London, England
Promenade 4, Tregony Gallery, Cornwall, England
‘Art on a Postcard’ Summer Auction, The Hepatitis C Trust, Dreweatts Auction House, England
Secret Postcard Exhibition, Royal West England Academy, Bristol, England
‘Scottish Exhibition - A 10th Anniversary Exhibition’, Stafford Gallery, London, England
Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, England
Pastel Society Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, England
2020 Art Miami’, Pontone Gallery, Florida, USA
‘Masters of Paint’, Pontone Gallery, Augusta, Georgia, USA (A group exhibition with Matteo Massagrande, Iain Faulkner, J Louis, Chris Rivers and Christopher Thompson)
‘Only Human’, Fidra Fine Art, Gullane, Scotland.
(A group exhibition with Jackie Anderson, Jennifer Anderson, Henry Jabbour, Angela Repping and Graeme Wilcox)
‘Shine’, Tregony Gallery, Cornwall, England
Nearly Full Circle, Campden Gallery, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, England
Open Drawer. Tregony Gallery, Cornwall, England
The Figurative Art Fair, Mall Galleries, London, England
‘As They Were and Will Be Again’ - ROSL At Home With The RBA, Royal Overseas League at Home, London, England
Secret Postcard Exhibition, Royal West England Academy, Bristol, England
On Paper, Campden Gallery, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, England
Visual Art Scotland/Society of Scottish Artists Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland
Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, England
Pastel Society Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, England
Scottish Exhibition, Stafford Gallery, London, England
Assemble 20:20, Tregony Gallery, at 54 The Gallery, Mayfair London, England
2019 The Royal West of England Academy, 167th Annual Exhibition, Bristol, England
Christmas exhibition, Smithy Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
Fresh Paint, Cameron Contemporary Art, Hove, England
The Biennial Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize Exhibition, Piano Nobile Kings Place Gallery, London
Traces of Light, Tregony Gallery, Cornwall, England Promenade 2, Tregony Gallery, Cornwall, England Bright Land, Tregony Gallery, Cornwall, England Affordable Art show, Smithy Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland Figurative, Fidra Fine Art, Gullane, Scotland
Lime Tree Gallery, Works on Paper, Long Melford, England
The Prince’s Trust ‘True Colours’ Art Auction, Lyon and Turnbull, Edinburgh, Scotland
Visual Art Scotland, Alight 2019. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland
Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
Pastel Society Annual Exhibition. Mall Galleries, London
Society of Scottish Artists, 121st Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland
2018 Smithy Gallery, Christmas Exhibition, Glasgow, Scotland
Fidra Fine Art, Christmas Exhibition, Gullane, Scotland
Edinburgh Art Fair, Edinburgh Corn Exchange, Lime Tree Gallery, Scotland
The Royal West England Academy, 166th Annual Exhibition, Bristol
Lime Tree Gallery, 3 person exhibition with Vivienne Williams and Rose Strang, Bristol
London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy of Arts, CCA Galleries, London
The Prince’s Trust ‘True Colours’ Art Auction, Lyon and Turnbull, Edinburgh
Royal Society of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London
Pastel Society Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2017 ‘Form in Art – Art of Form’. Isaac Newton Institute, Cambridge University. An exhibition to coincide with a workshop on Form and Deformation in Art, Toys and Games.
Union Gallery, Christmas Exhibition, Edinburgh
London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy of Arts, CCA Galleries, London
Lime Tree Gallery, Paper Trail Exhibition, Bristol
Leith School of Art Fundraising Exhibition and Auction, Lyon and Turnbull, Edinburgh
Work on Paper Art Fair, Lime Tree Gallery, Royal Geographical Society, London
Royal Society of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London
Pastel Society Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2016 Flowers Gallery, Cork Street, London, “Small is Beautiful” exhibition
Fly 2016, Visual Arts Scotland, The Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh
The Royal West England Academy, 164th Annual Exhibition, Bristol
Lime Tree Gallery, Summer Exhibition, Bristol
Converge 2016, Visual Arts Scotland, The Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh
Cannon Gallery of Art, Western Oregon University, Oregon (USA), Pushing the Edge
Pastel Society Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
Royal Society of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London
2015 Lime Tree Gallery, Christmas Exhibition, Long Melford, Suffolk
The Royal West England Academy, 163rd Annual Exhibition, Bristol
Visual Arts Scotland Annual Exhibition, The Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh
New Work - New York, 1st Biennial Survey by all eleven New York City based MFA programmes, Williamsburg, New York
TriBeCa Ball, New York Academy of Art, New York
2014 Collective Ground, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
Deck the Walls, Wilkinson Gallery, New York Academy of Art, New York
Awards and Recognitions
Scottish Arts Club Award, Society of Scottish Artists/Visual Arts Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (2020)
Elected member of the Royal Society of British Artists (2020)
The Davison Award for Oil Painting, Royal Society of British Artists, London (2019)
The Winsor and Newton Painting Award, Royal Society of British Artists, London (2019)
The Schminke Award, The Pastel Society, London (2019)
The PaintBox Award, The Society of Scottish Artists, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland (2019)
Frank Herring Award, The Pastel Society, Mall Galleries, London (2018)
The Michael Harding Award, The Royal Society of British Artists, London (2017)
Artists and Illustrators Award, The Pastel Society, London (2016)
Eliza Clifford Prize for outstanding work by a mature student, Leith School of Art, Edinburgh (2012)
Resident Artist at the Dingle - Ireland Summer Art Program, State University of New York (SUNY, 2016)
Elected Professional member of Visual Art Scotland (2016)
Eliza Clifford Prize for outstanding work by a mature student, Leith School of Art, Edinburgh, Scotland (2012)
