Fouad Elkoury

Born in 1952 in Paris, Fouad Elkoury moved to London to pursue a degree in Architecture. After completing his studies in 1979, he turned to the visual arts. Elkoury, like many contemporary Lebanese artists, captures visceral memories of civil war through photography, seeking to reclaim the medium from colonial doctrine. His poetic gaze is translated into his works in a way that transports the viewer to a different time and place, serving as a reminder of the various transitions over time.               

Elkoury's work portrays the turbulent past of the Middle East as well as daily life in the present. Capturing political, social and cultural nuances through photographs, the artist responds to past and present conflict that surrounds him. Scarred buildings and landscapes, the remnants of combat are woven into a body of work that is both informative and narrative. Images at once tragic and tender, are published in books that have a continued resonance today. With a natural affinity for liminal spaces, Fouad captures moments that leave the viewer unsure if they are observing a state of becoming or unbecoming. Recent works evoke a sense of disillusionment, but also acceptance of that which cannot now be undone.

Fouad has held numerous international solo exhibitions including:Preserving Time, Photographers Gallery, London, UK (2023); Suite Egyptienne, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE (2017); Blue for the Orient, Rodeo gallery, London, UK (2016); Le Plus Beau Jour, Bildmuseet, Umea, Sweden (2016); The Lost Empire, Galerie Tanit, Munich, Germany (2015); Suite Egyptienne, Galerie Tanit, Beirut, Lebanon (2015); The Lost Empire, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE, (2014); Le plus beau jour, Maison Europeenne de la Photographie, Paris, France (2014); Be....longing, Beirut Art Center, Beirut, Lebanon (2011); What Happened to my Dreams?, Galerie Gilles Peyroulet, Paris, France (2010); What Happened to my Dreams?, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE (2009).

Selected group exhibitions include: Arab Presences: Modern Art And Decolonisation: Paris 1908-1988, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, France (2024); Love Songs: Photography and Intimacy, International Center Of Photography (ICP), USA (2023); Perpetual Inventory, Volume 1: An Exercise in Looking, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE (2022); There Is Fiction In The Space Between, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE (2020); Home Beirut. Sounding the Neighbors, MAXXI, Roma, Italy (2017); NO TO THE INVASION: BREAKDOWNS AND SIDE EFFECTS, CSS Bard Galleries, New York, USA (2017); Don't You Think It's Time For Love?, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow, Russia (2016); Do It, Sharjah Art Foundation,  Sharjah, UAE (2016); Migrantes en el arte contemporaneo, Centro de Art Contemporaneo, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2015); Here and Elsewhere, New Museum, New York, USA (2014); The Sea is my Land, MAXXI, Rome, Italy (2013); Roundatable, 9th Gwanju Biennial, Gwangju, South Korea (2012). 

Fouad's works are part of permanent collections including the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris and Solidere in Beirut.

He currently lives between Paris and Beirut.