Ghady Helou

"My name is Ghady Helou, I am a Lebanese American artist. In 2006 I moved to the United States of America to escape the war in Lebanon and since then, the USA has become my permanent home and sanctuary. I carry a BA in film/TV/Theater from the Lebanese American University. My intentions were to pursue a career in film in the states but my passion for both, fine arts and film lead me to animation. In Las Vegas, I started an animation degree at the Art Institute of Las Vegas but half way through, I realized that I wanted to create with my hands, I wanted to touch the surfaces, feel the textures and catch the light with real paint. Therefore, In 2014 I dropped my animation degree and started a Master’s degree in Fine Arts at the Academy of Art University San Francisco, and this is where I found my true calling. I graduated end of 2018, since then, I have participated in few exhibitions at local galleries in Vegas. At this stage of my career, my art is still developing its identity. I go back and forth between portrait painting and landscape painting. Recently, I find myself immersed in the American Impressionism, doing my best at catching the spontaneity in nature, the gesture of the human figure and the freshness in creation. My only fear as an artist is to stop evolving. I discover new realms every time I venture outside my comfort zone. From realism, to abstract, to Russian expressionism…as an artist, I still have an infinite universe to discover. "