« The breath of Nature», a painting exhibition with XL frames, will be hanging as of the 7th of March and till the 28th, in the gallery of Aida Cherfan. In a country where hope is attempting to regain our hearts but remains elusive, Jasmine El-Khoury, known as JAZO, depicts one of the most captivating strengths of Lebanon: the striking beauty of its nature. She takes us on a journey of 391km, from North to South, highlighting some of the most beautiful landmarks of the country.
In some way Jasmine has unconsciously brushed a self-portrait, through her choice of unconventional colours and her perspectives: an approach perfectly in harmony with her spontaneity and her sincerity. Growing up, she climbed the mountains, roamed the paths and the valleys with the eyes of a little girl, hand in hand with her doll, to soak up the beauty of her environment. The pink colour dispersed here and there through her paintings, is her vision as a child and one that is still detected in certain neighbourhoods and in nature in Lebanon.
Today, a few decades later, she comes back armed with her brushes, to grasp the emotion that has inhabited her since childhood. A dream that was snatched from her years ago. Through her paintings she brings back a heartbeat to her country, like lungs that filter the waste and history of the country, so to restore oxygen, colours and life. Her strokes with brushes and knives awaken in us the breath of our country. With touches of gold, azure blues, deep greens, she gives back to Mother nature, its mountains, its valleys, its waters, its olive trees and its cedars, their majestic presence and their national dignity.
Her artistic and personal signature, her joy and spice of life, gives hope for a renewal and reaches out to the new generation, demonstrating what they can aspire to again. It is an exaltation of the natural beauty of the country, and also a cry from the heart to protect and preserve it.