“The pulse of these visual units, this proliferation, is composed of new relationships.”

Thaier Helal (b. 1967, Syria) relocated to the United Arab Emirates in the 1990s and has since become a significant figure of the Arab and Gulf art scene. A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus, he has served as a senior faculty member at the University of Sharjah’s Fine Arts College. His practice is rooted in an intense observation of crowds and collective movement, drawing on thousands of photographs and media images of political protests, religious ceremonies, and festivals to trace the physical patterns that emerge when large groups of people gather. Helal replicates the energy of these moments through a vibrant palette and the layered, often self-invented application of his materials. His earlier works divided the canvas into grids of repeating brushwork, revealing on closer inspection recurring figures such as birds or a repeated rooster motif, echoing the emphasis on pattern and repetition found in Islamic art and architecture. His more recent paintings move toward a freer, more spontaneous abstraction, built up with materials of his own devising, including combinations of sand, dust, paper, and wood mixed with acrylic, to create surfaces of varying thickness and texture that draw the viewer in physically as much as visually.

He has also participated in the Sharjah, Alexandria, and Tehran Biennials, in auctions at Christie’s and Bonhams, and in international art fairs, biennials, and exhibitions across Asia and Europe.