Ghassan

Ghassan Abulaban, the artist

Meet the Mastermind Behind the Canvas

Ghassan Abulaban’s artistic passion ignited at a young age, and he has been painting the world ever since. His portraits of people and emotions are truly captivating. Trained in Fine Arts at Jordan’s Yarmouk University, he draws inspiration from humanity and music, creating artworks that leave a lasting impression.

Abulaban's Life In Short

Ghassan Abulaban was born in Bethlehem, Palestine in 1964. His family relocated to Amman three years later, where he grew up. He received his B.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from the School of Fine Arts at Jordan’s Yarmouk University where he not only learned the tools and techniques he needed to develop his artistic talent, but also delving into the history of art.


Ghassan is currently a lecturer at the University of Jordan as well as a private art teacher while continuing to be a practicing artist. As a child, Abulaban used every surface he encountered to continuously draw and redraw everything he saw. As a teenager, humanity became his creative focus, which he manifested by creating portraits of people he knew. At the very beginning, Abulaban’s work was deeply influenced by renowned artists he had studied during his time in university, with his style conveying a documentary and realistic feeling, with an element of expressionism.

Over the next few years, he continued to paint portraits, experimenting with monochromes, gradients, lines, shading and lighting. His command of color and texture is elemental to his work, and he is significantly inspired by music, which is clearly evident in his harmonious compositions that capture the sense of delicate mystery of musical rhythms.

The Artist’s Statements Over The Years

My art is about personal exploration of the subject, I have to feel compassion towards the subject and desire to form a relationship with it, yet it has to speak back to me, as I am, inevitably, affected by the feeling or mood. My paintings are sensational recalls of layered memories; they evolve organically from feelings and life’s everyday glances. My paintings are more a dialogue between the canvas and the hand, submit and control, giving and taking.
I seek revelation, the unique intuitive meaning of color and form approaching as a result of frustration and struggle to achieve and realize.