‘Wild Mindscapes’ by Ghada Zoghbi

Lebanese artist Ghada Zoghbi will unveil her third solo exhibition, Wild Mindscapes, at Janine Rubeiz Gallery in Beirut from September 4 to 28, 2024. Inspired by sketches of Lebanon’s mountains and valleys, this series explores Zoghbi’s fascination with rock and stone formations.

In her words: “Stones, ancient and rooted in the Earth’s origins, shaped by nature or human hands, hold more life than we imagine. They tell stories of creation, places, and the people who encountered or used them.”

She reflects: “As I sketched Lebanese landscapes, I became captivated by stone formations, imagining and shaping them in my work. I began questioning whether these scenes were truly imagined or ancestral memories, revived through generations. How many stories have these rocks witnessed, and what will they pass on to future generations?”

Born in Chmestar in 1980, Zoghbi moved to Beirut at 18 to study art and earned a Fine Arts degree from Lebanese University in 2010. Her first solo exhibition, Regimes of the Personal (2016), at Artspace Gallery, explored personal narratives through oil paintings of closets, examining the link between the personal and collective.

In 2021, her second solo show, Pretty Abandoned, received praise at Janine Rubeiz Gallery, continuing her exploration of human-environment connections.

Zoghbi has exhibited in Lebanon and internationally, with group shows in London, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, Algeria, the UAE, and France. Her work is part of private collections and the permanent collection of the Sursock Museum. Janine Rubeiz Gallery represents her in Beirut.

Unaffiliated politically and religiously, Zoghbi rejects imposed boundaries. After 21 years as an art teacher enriching education for children in underprivileged areas and refugees, she fully dedicated herself to her art.

Wild Mindscapes offers a captivating look at Zoghbi’s connection with nature and the stories stones hold. The exhibition runs from September 4 to 28, 2024, at Janine Rubeiz Gallery.