Tamim Sibai

Tamim Sibai (b. 1991, Damascus, Syria) is a Berlin-based painter known for his vivid, expressive abstract portraits that explore identity, psychology, and human connection. Drawing from everyday encounters and personal interactions, Sibai creates layered character studies that blur the line between subject and self, merging observation with introspection. His works oscillate between dreamlike states and reality, capturing a quiet emotional intensity through bold color, thick impasto, and fluid, gestural application.

Sibai’s figures often appear calm yet enigmatic, their concealed expressions contrasted by a sense of stillness and underlying tension. Through this interplay, he examines themes of physicality, mythology, and perception, inviting viewers into an intimate and ambiguous psychological space.

He received his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University in 2014 and completed his Master’s degree in Painting at the Universität der Künste Berlin in 2018 under Prof. Burkhard Held. Since then, Sibai has exhibited widely in solo and group shows across Europe and the Middle East, including presentations in Berlin, Beirut, Madrid, and Dubai. His work has also been featured in major art fairs such as Cairo Art Fair in Egypt, MENART Fair in Paris and Positions Berlin Art Fair.

A recipient of the DAAD graduation grant, Sibai continues to develop a distinctive visual language that balances spontaneity with introspective depth, positioning him among a new generation of contemporary painters shaping the discourse around portraiture and identity.