Jennifer Haddad

Jennifer Haddad is a Lebanese artist who was born in Zahle. She studied at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA), graduating with a degree in Audio-Visual Studies. 

Haddad first discovered her passion for painting when creating storyboards as part of her degree course, recognising that she had potential in the field, but decided instead to focus on other ongoing projects at the time, which initially took her into a career in advertising.

She then moved into the film industry, carving a highly successful career as a casting director and producer in cinema and episodic television. In 2018, Haddad won best casting director and best casting ensemble for her work on the Oscar-nominated and Cannes Jury prize-winning film ‘Capernaum’. Since then, she has worked on several award-winning films and series, and in many leading production departments. 

In 2021, Haddad decided that while she was still passionate about sharing untold stories, she felt the time was right to explore these through a different medium - painting. 

A conceptual artist whose work reveals elements of hyper-realism and surrealism, Haddad continues to highlight the same topical issues through her painting as in her film and television work, from racism, sexism and homophobia to poverty, immigration and child exploitation. Haddad paints characters she has met, sharing a snapshot of their backstory, and others who were strangers but caught her eye for a fleeting moment. Still an avid researcher, she remains committed to unearthing stories that help to give marginalised, vulnerable groups a voice. 

Other subjects explored include the turbulence, turmoil and paradoxes that define Beirut. Works depicting the cityscape include her ‘Eutierria’ series, in acrylic on canvas, which captures snapshots of Beirut’s unique architectural peculiarities, some aesthetically pleasing and others less so, from an intriguing range of angles.

Haddad has transitioned comfortably into painting, noting its benefits. “I think art is much deeper in some ways,” she said in an interview with Artscoops. “You - the artist - decide what to show and what not to show, what to leave to people’s imagination and what to put directly in their face, whether to insinuate with colour, for example.”

Haddad participated this year in an online collective exhibition, titled ‘De Coeur A Coeur’, which marked a collaboration between ‘L’amicale des Anciens de l’ALBA’ and Artscoops. She is currently preparing for her first solo show later in 2024.