painter/writer
Practice in painting and in writing seeks transparency in depicting the color of light and guides the audience to probe inner experience through turbulence to acceptance.
Paints in oil, watercolor, ink, mixed-media on paper or on canvas, and writes both poetry and prose, publishing eight books to date.
artist statement
“My life in art is a perpetual return to what resonates within me and what prompts me to open gates into unknown gardens: to plant and to weed, to prune and to cultivate, both senses and thoughts into a coherent, organic and complex whole. As I move forward, I always return to what underlies my direct experience: a shaft of light. A memory of closeness. The feel of earth as I descend an old staircase. The wind. Riding a wave. Saying something ‘right’. Being a part. Forming a whole.
I see my art as a garden without a fence. In the past I built fences that bound my return, my search, in time and in space. Today I feel my garden opening, becoming limitless and free, having been watered by endless journeys of exile and of communion; of love and of separation; of milk and of merging mirrors.
I only wish that my garden is deep enough and expansive enough to contain you. For we are each other’s mirror. And our birth grows out of our joint reflection. My hope is that these reflections form the roots for more growth and more love. Despite all.”
collections
Zurayk’s artwork is in the permanent collections of the British Museum, London, UK; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE; the Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon; Darat al-Funun, Amman, Jordan.
gallery representation
Saleh Barakat Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
info@salehbarakatgallery.com
www.salehbarakatgallery.com
upcoming and current exhibitions (2025)
Oct 7 - Nov 1
Sep 4 - Sep 7
Apr 17 - Aug 2
Group Exhibition, Huguette Caland, Dorothy Salhab Kazemi and Afaf Zurayk
Salon 94 | New York, NY
Independent Fair
New York, NY
Paintings showcased in conjunction with the exhibition ‘Huguette Caland, Bribes de corps’, curated by Hannah Feldman
The Arts Club of Chicago | Chicago, Il
past exhibitions
2025
2019-2023
‘Light Enters’, two artist exhibition with Amy Todman
15 Beautreillis |Paris, France
Three exhibitions at Saleh Barakat Gallery | Beirut, Lebanon
2017
Beit Beirut | Beirut, Lebanon
‘shifting lights’ exhibition in collaboration with Rami Saab & Noel Nasr. Designed by Twig Collaborative
1997-2013
Five Exhibitions at Janine Rubiez Gallery | Beirut, Lebanon
2010
Exhibition at Maqam Gallery, with Noel Nasr photographer | Beirut, Lebanon
1991 - 1995
Three exhibitions at Foundry Gallery | Washington, DC
1994, 1980, 1978
Three exhibitions at Théâtre de Beyrouth, Goethe Institut and Smuggler’s Inn, respectively | Beirut,
Lebanon
selected group exhibitions
2020
‘Taking Shape, Abstraction in the Arab World, 1950 - 1980’
Grey Art Gallery | New York, NY
2006
‘From Pen to Brush’
Sursock Museum | Beirut, Lebanon
2005
‘In/Visible: Contemporary Art by Arab Americans’
Arab American National Museum | Dearborn, MI
1994
‘Forces of Change: Artists of the Arab World’
National Museum of Women in the Arts | Washington, DC; Chicago Cultural Center | Chicago, Il; Miami-Dale Community College | Miami, FL; Nexus Contemporary Art Center | Atlanta, GA; Bedford Gallery, Regional Center for the Arts | Walnut Creek, CA
published art books
the view from within, limited edition | Twig Collaborative, Beirut, Lebanon
The development of the artist’s work is explored as process and thought unfolding in space.
beyond art, limited edition | Twig Collaborative, Beirut, Lebanon
A book of poems and paintings conversing in a changing world.
return journeys | Twig Collaborative, Beirut, Lebanon
Eponymous publication of the retrospective exhibition held that year at Saleh Barakat Gallery.
drawn by light | American University of Beirut Press, Beirut, Lebanon
Selections of paintings and texts looking within while observing from without.
shifting lights | Librairie Antoine Distributor, Beirut, Lebanon
Eponymous catalogue of the Shifting Lights exhibition at Beit Beirut.
drawn poems, limited edition | Self-published
Ink drawings realized in response to three Beethoven piano sonatas.
lovesong | Rimal Publications, Nicosia, Cyprus
A book of poems and paintings on love and loving.
my father. reflections | Librairie Antoine Distributor, Beirut, Lebanon
An experiential multimedia exploration of a complex relationship; sculpture, photography, suggested music. Noel Nasr, photographer.
2021
2020
2019
2019
2018
2012
2011
2010
interviews
Afaf Zurayk: The Endless Journey of Art | Conversations with Ricardo Karam, # 54
Women's Agency in Art: Kinship, Education and Political Activism, Artist Interview, Part 1, Part 2 | Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon
2025
2025
lectures
2020
2020
2017
2015
The View from Within | DC Cultural Majlis, Washington, DC
The View from Within | NY Cultural Majlis, New York, NY
Drawn by Light | Ahliah School Centennial Exhibit, Beirut, Lebanon
The Road Less Traveled: The Shaping of a Life in Art | A program by karaz w laimoon and WAAAUB,
American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
experience
Educator
Taught at Beirut University College (now Lebanese American University), American University of Beirut, George Washington University, in continuing education at Corcoran College of Art and Design and Georgetown University
Courses ranged from beginning to advanced studio courses as well as survey courses in art history. Worked closely with students to develop personal vocabulary based on mastery of technique, reliance on imagination and a well-grounded understanding of history.
art manager | Alif Gallery, Washington, DC
educational administrator
assistant director | Ahliah School, Beirut, Lebanon (1971 - 1973)
director of student activities | Beirut University College (now Lebanese American University) (1974 - 1976)
1972 - 2016
1983 - 1985
1971 - 1976
education
1972
M.A., Fine Arts |
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
1970
B.A., Fine Arts (with distinction) |
American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon