Ali Omar

Ali Omar is a Syrian-born artist whose practice spans painting, theatre direction, and writing — a rare trifecta of creative disciplines rooted in a single, insistent inquiry: what does it mean to be human in a world that displaces you?

Born in 1986 in Tabke, Syria, Omar discovered painting at ten, guided only by a box of oil paints and an instinct that would outlast every obstacle. Formally trained at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus University (2006–2011), he also worked across theatre direction, film scenography, and dramatic writing. Since 2015, Istanbul has been his home and studio.

His portraits investigate the human psyche at its most exposed — desire, memory, the interplay between the physical and the spiritual. He received the Odeabank O'Art award in 2017 and has exhibited across Turkey, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia.