“Forest of Freedom” - The 40th Solo Exhibition by Maroun Hakim
with the support of Dr. Tony Karam
February 12 - 24, 2026 at Rebirth Beirut, Gemmayze
Maroun Hakim writes in introducing his new exhibition: “In the festival of light, and the clamor of its colors, the creative ego awakens, and the characteristic shines forth to transform personal feelings into passion and collective thought that awakens the secrets of artistic aesthetics in the sight and insight of the discerning viewer, and inspires enjoyment of what the eye sees and the hand touches.”
In his latest body of work, the artist reveals a series of emotional resonances shaped by the quiet rhythm of time. Color emerges as a language of feeling, while each canvas reflects the image of a homeland suspended between pain and hope.
Forest of Freedom unfolds as an invitation to pause and contemplate art’s enduring ability to transform fragility into strength, and to draw beauty from the very heart of suffering—where memory, resilience, and imagination meet.
Françoise Barbe-Gall, the French historian and art critic writes in her introductory text to the exhibition: “Au premier instant, nous voici emportés par un foisonnement de couleurs sauvages, une explosion dont on pourrait craindre la férocité, si elle n’était aussi maîtrisée. On pourrait imaginer, dans ces touches abruptes, autant de constructions à venir, le poids et la résistance des blocs de pierre que l’on poserait, l’un sur l’autre, l’un à côté de l’autre, l’un pour l’autre surtout, dans l’invention d’un équilibre jusqu’à aujourd’hui inconnu ; et la puissance des arbres en fleurs qui s’élèveraient alors jusque dans le moindre interstice : parce que rien, jamais, ne serait capable de menacer l’élan vivace ni la grâce de la nature...”.
Dr. Tony Karam, the main supporter and initiator of this exhibition writes in his introductory text: "When one truly sinks into Hakim’s art, one forgets the visual sense as the mind wakes up and weaves its own world around the mood set by the observed masterpiece."
