Myriam ghali

Myriam Ghali is a Lebanese-American, contemporary painter. She is also a poet, a philosopher, a teacher, an art professor, and a great cook. “Cooking, she says, is like mixing colors on a palette”.
“The happiness of being an artist is a blessing every day of my life.”

BIO
After obtaining a master's degree in Fine Arts from Cairo University, Myriam Ghali enrolled at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome, Italy, where she perfected her skills for four more years . She worked under the direction of masters of great renown including Franco Gentillini, Maccari, Castellucci. She wrote her art history thesis under the guidance of Professors Rivosecchi and Bologna.
She wanted to build a solid foundation, before taking flight. She therefore applied herself and intensely studied drawing, painting, etching, frescoes, art history, anatomy, etc. Eight hours a day for nine years.
She started as a part-time professor at the American University in Cairo, Egypt for two years. She then taught as a full professor at the Lebanese University in Beirut, Lebanon for twenty years.
She currently lives and works in the U.S.
Commissions
In 1962, while in Italy, she was invited by the Pontificia Commissione Centrale Per l'Arte Sacra in Italia, which was presided by Monsignor Giovanni Fallani, to present a study for four icons to adorn the Chapel of the Pontifical Ethiopian College at the Vatican. After researching Coptic and Ethiopian art in the Vatican's library, she presented an iconostasis consisting of four icons, 60 cm x 150 cm each. She had to defend her work in front of a jury. Based on the strength of her presentation and the quality of her art work, she was awarded the commission and became the only female artist whose paintings are at the Vatican.
Her Ethiopian icons are documented at the Warren M. Robbins Library, National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian. (1) http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/art-design/artandartistfiles/vf_details.cfm?id=92386
In 1982, her painting "Noël de l'Espérance" adorned the Christmas cover of "La Revue du Liban", which was internationally distributed.
In 1985, one of her paintings, "Aria", was acquired by the Vesti Corporation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, to be executed as a large-scale work, a tapestry woven for the Royal Pavilion at the King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia.
(2) “The Royal Pavilion at the King Abdulaziz International Airport outside Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Building design by Minoura Yamasaki, with interiors by Wayne Vesti. Major works of art by Middle Eastern artists commission by Vesti and enlarged and woven as tapestries in Brussels and Paris.” http://www.waynevestiandersen.com/architecture/
In 1987 she was commissioned to paint a large-scale mural, representing Our Lady of the Light, a 12 m2 painting for Saint Raymond’s Cathedral in St. Louis, MO, in the U.S.

Grants and Awards
1962, Myriam Ghali received a grant from Ministero degli Affari Esteri, Italy, to perfect her Italian.
Juried competition. Citadella di Assisi. Painting acquired for the Citadella's permanent collection.
Juried competition. San Vito Romano. Silver Cup. Tourism Ministry.
1964 Juried competition. Castel Sigismondo, Rimini. Silver medal.
1965 First International Prize. Cervara di Roma. Italian President Giovanni Gronchi presented her with a plot of a 1000 m2 at Cervara.
Grant from Ministero degli Affari Esteri, Italy for completion of her art studies and the presentation her thesis.
1966 Private grant to study with Master Leonidas Ouspensky the Russian icon techniques. Paris.
1976 Research grant offered by French government to University Professors. She researched and documented “The integration of plastic art in the environment”. She practiced several techniques at Les Arts Appliqués, in Paris.
Solo exhibitions
1964 Fondazione Besso, Rome.
1965 Galleria San Marco, Rome.
1966 Galerie L'Orient, Beirut.
1966 American Language Center, Beirut.
1970 Galerie Hotel Carlton, Beirut.
1971 Lebanon Tourism Ministry sponsored and organized a traveling exhibit of her paintings, in New York, Houston and Omaha.
1971 Pacem In Terris Gallery, New York.
1971 The Lebanese Convention. Houston chaired by Danny Thomas.
1971 Creighton University, Omaha.
1974. Galerie Spirale, Beirut.
1978 Galerie Motte, Geneva.
1979 Sharja Beach Hotel. Held under the patronage of Sheikh Saud bin Sultan Al Qasimi, ruler of Sharja.
1979 Abu Dhabi at the International Hotel.
1979 Salon de May Saab, Beirut.
1980 Galerie Elcir, Beirut.
1987 Wittenberg Gallery, Saint Louis, Missouri.
1987 Le Cercle D'Art Galerie Dallaire in Laval, Quebec.
1994 Centre De Creativité des Salles du Gesu. Montreal, Quebec

Selected Group exhibitions
1966 Biennale de Vichy. By special invitation, UFACSI.
1968-1975 Salons d'Automne et du Printemps. Beirut.
1968-1969 Exposition Itinérante. Myriam Ghali organized and curated a traveling exhibition of a group of artists painters and sculptors, through many locations in Beirut and the Lebanese mountains.
1971 Lebanese Artists, Alumni of Italian Art Schools at the Italian Cultural Institute.
1973 Alexandria Biennale, Egypt.
1987 Conseil des Artistes Peintres du Québec.
1989 Village des Arts. Laval, Québec.
1993 Galerie Brancusi. Art contemporain.
Press and Publications
December 21-22, 1964. L'Osservatore Romano. Vatican.
December 1964. Il Messagiero. Rome.
1965. Socialismo Democratico. Franco Miele. Rome.
April 6, 1965. Paese Sera. Rome.
1966. La Revue du Liban. Victor Hakim. Beirut.
May 15, 1966. L'Orient. Christiane Saleh. Beirut.
May 17, 1966. Le Jour. Marie-Therese Arbid. Beirut.
1966. La Revue du Liban. Hani Abi Saleh. Beirut.
May 22, 1968. Magazine. No 648. Beirut.
May 24, 1969. La Revue du Liban. No. 543. Beirut.
July 31, 1969. The Daily Star. Beirut. No. 6366.
August 9, 1969. L'Orient. Beirut.
May 2, 1970. Le Soir. A.A. Beirut.
May 1970. Catalog for the Carlton Solo Exhibition.
March 9, 1974. La Revue du Liban. Italo Battaglia. Cultural attaché, Italian Embassy. Lebanon.
March 1974. La Revue du Liban. Farid Moukhaiber. Beirut.
March 1974. La Revue du Liban. Victor Hakim.
March 20, 1974. as Safa. Les reflets de la ville. Lebanon.
March 21, 1974. Magazine. Illustré du Moyen-Orient. No 900. On the Cover.
March 22, 1974. L'Orient-Le Jour. Aux 4 Vents. Irene Mossali. Beirut.
March 29, 1974. Al Safa. Joseph Tarrab. Lebanon.
March 16, 1978. La Suisse. Madame Actualité, Femmes en flèche. Simone Guye. Geneva.
March 1978. L'Orient-Le Jour. Aux 4 vents. Geneva.
June 18, 1979. Monday Morning. Georges Zeeny. Beirut.
June 23, 1979. Al Nahar. May Menassa. Beirut.
Juin 23, 1979. La Revue du Liban. Claire Gebeyli. No 1022.
June 25, 1979. Information Ministry. Press Communique. Page 13, 14. Lebanon.
November 21, 1979. Khaleej Times. Sharja.
November 24, 1979.Gulf News. Sharja.
November 13, 1980. L'Orient. Beirut. Hala Khoury.
November 20, 1980. Le Jour. Nohad Salameh.
November 1980. La Revue du Liban. Nicole Malhamé.
November 1980. Al Anouar. Elie Estephan.
1980 Cent Ans d'Arts Plastiques au Liban. Chahine Gallery. (3) http://www.chahinegallery.com.lb/publisher.htm
November 21, 1980. Al Sayyad. No 1881. Hanna Kouri. Lebanon.
November 26, 1980. Le Réveil. Nohad Salameh. Beirut.
December 1982. La Revue du Liban. On the Cover.
February 14, 1983. Le Réveil. Beirut.
March 1987. West End Word. Howard Derrickson. Page 2 A. Saint Louis, Missouri.
Dicember 9, 1987. Il Cittadino Canadese. Alessandra Luciani. Montreal, Quebec.
January 1988. Le Journal de Laval. LA 5. Claude Desjardins. Laval, Quebec.
February 1988. La Revue du Liban. No1474. News from the USA.
August 16, 1989. Il Cittadino Canadese. L.C. Montreal, Quebec.
1993 Bulletin no. 54, Conseil de la Peinture du Québec. On the Cover. Montreal.
June 9, 1994. The Gazette. F4/we. Charlie Fidelman. Montreal.

Television appearances
1965. RAI. Italian TV. Prize reception from President Gronchi and CIVIS, earned at Cervara di Roma.
April 1974. Actualités Libanaises, documentary. Beirut.
April 1974. Interview with Fouad Naim. Télé Liban.
1979. Interview on TV Lebanon. Min Loubnan.
June1994. Interview on TV 5. Montreal. Quebec.
1999. Channel 5. KSDK with Karen Foss and Dan Gray. Saint Louis, Missouri.
Current Pursuits
After extensively traveling, researching, creating, and exhibiting, Myriam Ghali now mostly works in the peace and quiet of her studio, updating regularly her website (4) www.MyriamGhali.com.
Her style is more than ever on the contemplative side. Each piece she creates has a story, sometimes joyful, sometimes poignant, always humanly related.

Human misery, destitution, and suffering have been her inspiration for a recent series of collages, arranged as slides: “The third race”.
More recently, she has been working on a project inspired by her travels, called “Reminiscence”, expressed in silk and lace through collages.

She has written “Mon Nord est ton Sud” (to be published) on the relativity of our knowledge and thoughts; “Je vois” about the many faces and encounters with people who touched her life; and “Pensées d'un peintre”, a reflection about teaching and enjoying art.

Found in her archive are thousands of notes she took while studying theology at the University of Montreal. The notes are about her daily meditation, prayer, and life experience.

References

All articles and documents referenced in this article are catalogued in the Myriam Ghali Archives.

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