Each week, we’ll feature a few of our New Visual Artists—15 remarkable up-and-coming artists and creatives under the age of 30. Read about Yazan Halwani below, and meet all of PRINT’s New Visual Artists in the Summer 2016 issue of PRINT Magazine.
![yazan-halwani](https://i0.wp.com/www.printmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2a34d8_6b2d6f1e85764383b09d9237b3da3187mv2.png?resize=200%2C201&quality=80&ssl=1)
Meet New Visual Artist Yazan Halwani
Age: 22.
From: Beirut, Lebanon.
Current city: Between Beirut and Dubai.
Education: American University of Beirut (Bachelor of Computer and Communications Engineering).
Earliest creative memory: That is very hard to remember, as creativity for me is a continuous process rather than “eureka” moments. I create my pieces through continuous thinking and focus in small amounts of time for each piece.
![yazan-halwani-2](https://i0.wp.com/www.printmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2a34d8_68a4282ddce446a983dc339976ba77fbmv2.png?resize=600%2C448&quality=80&ssl=1)
detail featuring Arabic calligraphy for Yazan’s 2016 PRINT New Visual Artists cover
Path that led you to design: My main objective was to paint a positive image of my city, Beirut, after the civil war, and to remove all pictures of politicians on the walls that hijack the city’s beauty. I designed murals that sprayed across the city.
![yazan-halwani-8](https://i0.wp.com/www.printmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2a34d8_7168fc2ff74e4cab86cd59f92073e29fmv2.jpg?resize=700%2C539&quality=89&ssl=1)
“The Arab Man, and the Asian Cherry Blossom Tree,” painted live during the Singapore Art Fair in 2014.
![yazan-halwani-3](https://i0.wp.com/www.printmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2a34d8_bebea2e8a1af4b28aa29e362a370a00dmv2.jpg?resize=700%2C448&quality=89&ssl=1)
Mural of Lebanese singer and actress Sabah in the Hamra neighborhood of Beirut.
Career in a nutshell: An Arab muralist/artist on the move.
The key to good design: When a mural fits within the urban landscape as if the city was built around it.
Motto/design philosophy: Letters can be letters, faces and art at large.
![yazan-halwani-2](https://i0.wp.com/www.printmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2a34d8_6388f6f1be924f0690db8f45b5fbb020mv2.jpg?resize=700%2C467&quality=89&ssl=1)
Mural of Lebanese singer Fayrouz installed next to the 392rmeil393 art gallery in Gemmayzeh, Beirut.
![yazan-halwani-6](https://i0.wp.com/www.printmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2a34d8_0af85b1abb964f89932eead44d6db977mv2.jpg?resize=700%2C696&quality=89&ssl=1)
Fayrouz on Canvas, Part of Yazan’s past show in Courtyard Gallery Dubai in March/April 2014
Biggest influence: Traditional Arabic calligraphers who paint old-school political propaganda banners—I love their talent, but hate their messages.
How you would classify your style: A blend of faces and Arabic calligraphy with a twist.
Design hero: I don’t believe in heroes.
Favorite artist: Leonardo da Vinci.
Favorite writer: A poet, Mahmoud Darwish.
![yazan-halwani-5](https://i0.wp.com/www.printmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2a34d8_ddd3ad5e3ca843a7b34db637ede6bf85mv2.jpg?resize=700%2C661&quality=89&ssl=1)
A mural that serves as a tribute to Ali Abdallah, a homeless man that lived on Bliss Street in the Hamra neighborhood of Beirut, 2015.
Favorite typographer: An Iraqi calligrapher called Khalil Al-Zahawi.
What defines you: So far, my perpetual search for identity …
Cause that means the most to you: Making cities reflect the lives of their inhabitants.
Your idea of happiness: People getting possessive over murals I have painted: stealing my cement sculptures from the street, taking out a door that was part of my mural, or asking me to fix a mural that was damaged because the mural is next to their homes.
What you think the future of design is: For Arabic calligraphy at least: being able to express meaning not through the meaning of the word (which can only be understood by Arabic readers) but by the shape and stroke of the letter.
Website: www.facebook.com/yazanone
More work by Yazan Halwani:
![yazan-halwani-4](https://i0.wp.com/www.printmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2a34d8_017189f475bc474bbed8e9e4108ddcc2mv2.jpg?resize=700%2C455&quality=89&ssl=1)
Musical calligraphy
![yazan-halwani-7](https://i0.wp.com/www.printmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2a34d8_41ff9999757a4b5abf0b240a3b5ad885mv2.jpg?resize=700%2C467&quality=89&ssl=1)
“The Arabic Spring, or the Girl and the Calligraphy Flower” in Djerba, Tunisia.
![yazan-halwani-1](https://i0.wp.com/www.printmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2a34d8_6b0911d486d94994acafd34acf6761dbmv2.jpg?resize=700%2C698&quality=89&ssl=1)
“The Flower Salesman” mural in Dortmund, Germany.
![EPPRSM16 (1)](https://i0.wp.com/www.printmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2a34d8_ef9bc20207524d398de15909ab6467ebmv2.jpg?resize=154%2C200&quality=89&ssl=1)
Meet more of PRINT’s New Visual Artists in the Summer 2016 issue of PRINT, or subscribe to get print all year long.