Massoud Hayoun’s political paintings are seeped in symbolism and shades of blue

Massoud Hayoun is a journalist as well as a painter; many of the stories and people he covers in his writing day to day make an impression on his large multilayered acrylic paintings. His canvases often explore current events and politics as well as gender and queerness, contemplating “how these things relate my life and that of my Tunisian and Egyptian grandparents, who raised me here in Los Angeles”, Massoud shares. Sites where a melange of subject matters merge, Massoud’s scenes feel slow and self reflective, a way to investigate the nuances of his identity while simultaneously engaging with broader political ideas.

The artist’s works are seeped in symbolism. His figures, all dowsed in the same shade of blue, are immortalised portraits from past and present: “Persecuted figures from history find their contemporary allies among feminist poets, daydreaming waitresses and my own alter ego, who shape-shifts across multiple works, reconfiguring dominant narratives around what it is to be a Queer Arab man of Jewish faith,” Massoud says. Family also features heavily across the artists painted faces, the legacy of his Egyptian, Tunisian heritage, and “the stories shared by his elders that speak of exile and loss but also love and resistance” are drawn out across his canvases alongside “kindred spirits facing upheaval and displacement”.

To seek inspiration, the painter looks to the work of emerging British artist Cassie Vaughan, a friend and fellow painter “who has taught me to appreciate abstraction as a purer expression of our experience”, Massoud says. In front of the canvas, the artist also channels the intricacies of Egyptian painter Seif Wanly’s work and the rich symbolism of Spanish-Mexican painter Jesús Martí Martín.” As for the subversive nature of his paintings, he attributes this specific aspect to the influence of the artist Ai Weiwei.

Following a debut exhibit at Larkin Durey in London last year, Massoud’s work is due to be displayed at the gallery with a new exhibition opening from 5 June 2025.