Tammam Azzam: Aftermath

For more than ten years, Azzam has been dealing with the effects of armed conflicts on urban spaces.

His striking images show bombed-out houses and gutted streets – silent witnesses to past and present tragedies. His latest works, created over the last two years, focus on the visible scars of war – particularly in his native Syria, but also as a symbol of a global reality.

Against dramatically charged skies in shades of glowing red, midnight blue, or ash grey, Azzam's fragmented cityscapes unfold a haunting visual language that reflects both the fragility of the human condition and the cruelty of war.

In a dialogue with the author, art historian and journalist Dorothee Baer-Bogenschütz, Azzam describes his works as an examination of ‘the relationship between cities and people – and how places that were once full of life become silent voids.’ His compositions, which oscillate between abstraction and documentary precision, not only show the devastation of Syria – they also address the global consequences of war and violence.

About the artist

Tammam Azzam, born in Damascus in 1980, graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in his hometown in 2001. He has been living and working in Berlin since 2016. His works have been exhibited internationally, including at the Ayyam Gallery in Dubai, at Art Dubai, at Untitled Miami, and at the Haines Gallery in San Francisco, which presented his work at the Armory Show in New York in 2018. Azzam's works are now part of major collections, including the Barjeel Art Foundation (Sharjah), the Atassi Foundation and the For Site Foundation (San Francisco).

With Aftermath, Tammam Azzam creates a powerful visual world in which destruction has become a universal language – as a warning echo of the past and at the same time as an invitation to reflect on new beginnings.