Sumayyah Samaha

Sumayyah Samaha (b. 1939) is a New York-based mixed-media artist who was born in the Lebanese mountain town of Dhour Shweir, Matn. She studied at the American University of Beirut (AUB), graduating with a BA in 1960. Samaha then travelled to the US after she was awarded a scholarship to study at the University of Pittsburgh, where she gained an MA in 1965, before moving to New York City.

Drawing on her Lebanese roots, Samaha’s earlier works explore topical themes, from migration to the various conflicts in the Middle East and their repercussions.

Key examples include her large-scale, mixed-media on paper oeuvre ‘Israel/Palestine Fence’ (2003-2006), ‘Cluster Bombs’ (mixed media, 2007) and ‘Iraq War’ charcoal-on-paper series (2004-2006). Samaha also takes inspiration from the natural world in her early works, evident in her drawings of Lebanese villages and her oil paintings on canvas, in which she brings mountain ranges, starlit skies, summer scenes and waterfalls to life in rich colours with bold brushstrokes.

More recently, Samaha has adopted an abstract approach in works that are characterised by interconnected, naturally flowing organic shapes, linked together by guiding lines and unfolding to reveal the artist’s chosen narrative. Meticulously detailed in vibrant colours in mixed media, these artworks sometimes take the form of diptychs and triptychs, reflecting the extensive interconnectedness of her stories.

Samaha’s work can be found in numerous prestigious public collections, including those of: the Arab American National Museum, Michigan; the Cultural Centre, Michigan; Centrum Sztuki, Warsaw, Poland; Chase Manhattan Bank, New York; Kenkeleba House, New York; Pfizer Pharmaceutical, New York; Prudential Insurance, New Jersey; Banque Audi, Beirut; Chemical Bank, New York; Darat al Funun, Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman, Jordan; Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; and New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.

Her work has featured in several solo exhibitions, including, most recently: ‘Long Voyage’, Lela Heller Gallery, New York (2023); ‘Lines, Forms, Substance’, Carter Burden Gallery, New York (2019); ‘On the Wall’, Carter Burden Gallery, New York (2017); Artscoops Featured Artist, online show (2017); ‘Aesthetics: Art & Politics’, Art Circle Gallery, Beirut (2010); ‘Darkness ushers Dawn’, Skoto Gallery, New York (2008); ‘Love, Life and Pain’, Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba, New York (2007); ‘Personal Landscapes’, Blink Gallery, New York (2004); ‘Strange Fruit’, Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York (2002); and ‘Recent Paintings’, Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York (2000).

Samaha has also taken part in several group shows throughout the US, Europe and the Middle East, including, most recently: Art Dubai, Leila Heller Gallery, Dubai (2024); ‘Over the Sofa’, Carter Burden Gallery, New York (2023); ‘Darat al Funun’, The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman, Jordan (2023); ‘Friends and Family Show’, Carter Burden Gallery, New York (2023); CITYarts SoHo Artist History Walk, CITYArts, New York (2022); ‘Salon Zurcher: Eleven Spirited Women’, Zurcher Fine Arts, New York (2020); Auction, Artscoops, Beirut (2019); ‘Abstract Vision’, El Barrio’s Artspace PS109, New York (2019); ‘Summer Show’, Skoto Gallery, New York (2017); ‘Carter Burden Group Show’, Carter Burden Gallery, New York (2016); ‘Figuring Abstraction’, Westbeth Gallery, New York (2015); ‘The Emo Show’, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York (2013); ‘Berlin Biennale’, Digital Venue of the 7th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art (2012); ‘25 Years Anniversary Show Part 2’, curated by Kazuko Miyamoto - Gallery onetwentyeight, New York (2012); ‘Exhibition of Drawings’, Skoto Gallery, New York (2012); ‘Summer Show’, Skoto Gallery, New York (2011); New York Chronicles, Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, VCUQ Gallery, Doha, Qatar (2010); ‘ART in Embassies Exhibition’, US Embassy, Kuwait City, Kuwait (2008/2009); ‘Group Exhibition’, Skoto Gallery, New York (2009); ‘Small Works; 30 Seconds’, Washington Square Gallery, New York (2009); ‘Three Person Show’, Blink Gallery, Andes, New York (2007); and ‘3 Arab Painters in New York’: Samia Halaby, Sumayyah Samaha, Athir Shayota, curated by Maymanah Farhat, the Bridge Gallery, New York (2006).

Samaha was awarded the Skopelos Foundation for the Arts residency in 2021 and is also a two-time recipient of the Emily Harvey Foundation Residency in Venice, Italy (2010, 2018). She was awarded the Pollock-Krasner Individual Grant in 2016 and the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Grant in 2015.

Samaha has participated in several panels and has also written and contributed to several publications and papers.