Vogue Arabia interviewed Syrian painter and plastic arts artist Jwan Yosef this week and we can totally see why his boyfriend, superstar Ricky Martin, is in love with him ('cos we certainly are).
— Ricky Martin (@ricky_martin) November 10, 2016
Jwan described himself as a "very calm person," and a "modern nomad" because of his upbringing and lifestyle: He was born in Syria - from an Armenian mother and Kurdish father - and grew up in Sweden. He currently lives in London and is moving to Los Angeles soon.
"I spent the first two years of life in a small town in Syria—Ras Al-Ayn. If there’s any pattern, I’m most definitely moving way out West. All [cities] are extremely different places, yet all have played equally important roles. I believe that one never fully grows up unless he leaves his hometown, or country for that matter," he told Vogue Arabia.
Jwan isn't just a talented artist, he's also quite the funny guy!
The handsome artist said that his family tends ot laugh at him, rather than with him, and that he owes his "sarcastic sense of humor" to the seven years he has spent living in London.
"Americans don’t get it all; Europeans love it; and Arabs think, 'Why is he speaking like a foreigner?'," he joked.
But what would Jwan be doing if he weren't an award-winning artist? He'd turn to another form of art: Writing!
"I’d be a writer. It’s a profession that would turn me into even more of a recluse. I enjoy the idea of total detachment in professions—not to work towards a specific client or boss. However, I often find myself missing those kinds of jobs; there’s something tempting about a landscape of desks and people working in a massive office building. I’m a total millennial…"
Jwan is currently displaying new work at his first solo exhibition, titled "Masking," in Stockholm.
"My first solo show at Stene Projects in Stockholm opens on November 10th. I’m showing a brand new series of work where my focus on art material is a focal point. I’m also moving closer to sculptural work, where as a painter, the work has taken a big leap by moving down onto the ground to work around the notion of duality; the in-between state of painting and sculpture. The work itself is super seductive in my opinion, yet highly political."
The exhibition opened on November 10 and runs until December 3rd at Stene Projects, Brunnsgatan 21B in Stockholm.
You can read Jwan's full interview here.
