| Mouna Rebeiz | |
| Birth Place: | Lebanon |
| Field: | Painting, Site-specific installation |
| Training: | Beaux-Arts de Paris, Fine Arts School Beirut |
Mouna Rebeiz (born 1957) is a Lebanese-Canadian[1] contemporary artist invited to exhibit at the 59th Venice Biennale held in 2022.[2] Rebeiz lives and works in London.
Rebeiz was born in Lebanon and educated in Paris. For a brief time she studied psychology at the Sorbonne in Paris.[3] Rebeiz's art education began when she met a lecturer on 18th century painting at the Louvre named Alix de la Source. De la Source taught her the techniques of the old masters. She perfected her patina studies under Abraham Pincas at the Beaux-Arts in Paris and with El Rawas at the Fine Arts School in Beirut.
Rebeiz's work mixes the traditional techniques of 'Old Masters' with contemporary issues and exploration of the human being and its psyche. It is said that her works incorporate both male and female and the West and the East. Steeped in influences from both Lebanon and France, Rebeiz's work explores how both cultures emphasize the duality in the role of women.
In 2015, Rebeiz rose to acclaim when she organized an exhibition and auction at the Saatchi Gallery in London called "Le Trebouche." The exhibition was based on Rebeiz's ongoing work of taking the Fez, a traditional Middle-Eastern symbol of male virility, and reconstructing it into various commentary on the female form.[4] For the exhibition, Rebeiz invited several artists and designers to reinvent their own versions of the Fez, with the pieces to be held for auction after the close of the exhibition. The auction was held at Sotheby's with proceeds from the auction and the sales of Rebeiz's paintings provided to the charity "Innocence in Danger," a movement for the protection of children against sexual abuse.[5] Participating designers included Sandra Choi of Jimmy Choo, Elie Saab, Lanvin, Twiggy, Giles Deacon, Helen McCrory, Angel Chang, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Alber Elbaz, Nathalie Rykiel, Stephen Webster, Zaha Hadid, and others.
For the 59th Venice Biennale, held in 2022, Rebeiz presented "The Soothsayer" based on the 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot of Marseille, reinterpreted into paintings on aluminum plates.