Willy Aractingi began painting in the early 1950s, drawing on literary and mythological figures such as Tarzan, Adam and Eve, and Antar and Abla, lovers in a legendary pre-Islamic saga, rendering them in fantastical, pastoral scenes. At the biennial, a suite of eight paintings by Aractingi is presented. In oneiric pastoral scenes, soft green hills are encircled by ribbon-like pathways and human figures travel on horseback along magenta paths, and friends embrace in a garden of flowers surrounded by mythological animals in a lush, atemporal universe, embracing fictionality, myth and intimacy across human and non-human forms.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Willy Aractingi’s (b. 1930, New York, d. 2003, Barcelona) was an artist based between Lebanon and France for most of his life. He painted literary and mythological figures—including Tarzan, Adam and Eve, and legendary lovers Antar and Abla—within fantastical, pastoral landscapes. His solo exhibitions include Les Mondes des Willy Aractingi [The Worlds of Willy Aractingi],Sursock Museum, Beirut (2017); Willy Aractingi, Rivages – galerie d’art, Fougères (1989); Willy Aractingi: Peintures [Willy Aractingi: Paintings], Galerie Épreuve d’Artiste, Beirut (1988). Group exhibitions include 14th Salon d’Automne,Sursock Museum, Beirut (1988); Art Junction International Art Fair, Paris (1987); 16th A.M.O.P.A. Art Exhibition, Paris (1985).
EXHIBITED WORKS
Left to right:
Willy Aractingi (b. 1930, d. 2003)
Le dépositaire infidèle (The Faithless Depository), 1995
Oil on canvas
100 × 100 cm
Courtesy of Sursock Museum
Willy Aractingi (b. 1930, d. 2003)
Le cri de Tarzan (Tarzan’s Cry), 1987
Oil on canvas
90 × 116 cm
Courtesy of Nicole Aractingi
Willy Aractingi (b. 1930, d. 2003)
Les deux aventuriers et le talisman (The Two Adventurers and the Talisman), 1994
Oil on canvas
100 × 100 cm
Courtesy of Sursock Museum
Willy Aractingi (b. 1930, d. 2003)
Les deux amis (The Two Friends), 1994
Oil on canvas
100 × 81 cm
Courtesy of Sursock Museum
Willy Aractingi (b. 1930, d. 2003)
Le cheval s’étant voulu vengé du cerf (The Horse Wishing to be Revenged upon the Stag), 1994
Oil on canvas
100 × 100 cm
Courtesy of Sursock Museum
Willy Aractingi (b. 1930, d. 2003)
Philomène et Progne (Philomela and Progne), 1994
Oil on canvas
61 × 76 cm
Courtesy of Sursock Museum
Willy Aractingi (b. 1930, d. 2003)
Le mari, la femme et le voleur (The Husband, the Wife, and the Thief), 1994
Oil on canvas
100 × 100 cm
Courtesy of Sursock Museum
Willy Aractingi (b. 1930, d. 2003)
Le Vieillard et les 3 Jeunes hommes (The Old Man and the 3 Young Men), 1995
Oil on canvas
100 × 100
Courtesy of Sursock Museum
