Khaldoun Hijazin

B. 1988

Visual artist Khaldoun Hijazin probes systems of power and dominant ideologies through dark humour and densely layered narratives. 

George Orwell asserted that: ''Each joke is a tiny revolution'' and Hijazin, mining his personal histories - his father is a well-known political comic and actor - takes satire to tackle the deep-seated socio-political questions of the 21st century. Through the lens of critical theory Hijazin unpacks a constellation of governance, hegemony, and intangible force that he observes as an intriguing network of influence. Avoiding direct commentary, Hijazin's meanings remain unfixed to be mutually and perpetually explored. 

Blending classicism and pop culture, Hijazin's art alludes to a range of representational traditions; from Baroque painting to contemporary media and cinema. He understands that these particular traditions make elaborate allusions to their long-standing implication in the discourses that have prevailed in our collective imagination. Hijazin is concerned with explicating and subverting these structures of appearance from their echoing imperial past towards new globalising formations.

The artist's subjective take on manifestations of contemporary culture with its hybrid and interlinked networks of discourses - social, cultural, economic, political and spiritual  - serves as a point of departure. Through the juxtaposing and synthesising of found images and texts from multiple moments in history Hijazin's process culminates in allegorical representations, produced in a painterly language. His explorations, while primarily oil on canvas, also take shape through other 2-dimensional media and experimentations in installation and sculpture. Both the process and product are intimately linked and intended to serve as an alluring visual map for tracing and deconstructing the ironies and complexities inherent in power structures through the lineage of time. Tinged with a sense of scepticism and playfulness, Hijazin's art is seeking to put into action and tension the play of our different sets of collective values, desires, and attitudes in relation to the dominant discourses of our times.

Hijazin received his BA in Visual Arts from the University of Jordan in 2010 followed by an MFA from SMFA at Tufts University, Boston. He is a cultural manager currently holding the position of executive director at the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts and has worked for several years as a faculty lecturer at the School of Arts and Design at the University of Jordan. In addition to his artistic practice, Hijazin has developed a complementary practice as a researcher and curator of workshops and exhibitions that aim to cast new light on the varied cultural and sociopolitical conditions and challenges of his community both locally and beyond.

Hijazin has participated in group and solo exhibitions as well as in workshops and fairs in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Italy, Spain, China and the United States. 

EDUCATION
2014, MFA, School of the Museum of Fine Arts at TUFTS UNIVERSITY (Boston, USA)

2010, Bachelors in Visual Arts, Drawing and Painting, The School of Arts and Design at the University of Jordan (Amman, Jordan)