Habib Hajallie

My practice looks to empower often marginalised minorities through the exploration of identity within portraiture. Confronting socio-political issues within my drawings can act as a catalyst for a discourse regarding the perception of various demographics as being of lesser humanistic value. Specifically, with the disenfranchised often being undermined by mainstream media; somewhat paradoxically reflecting an archaic hierarchy of status, similar to colonial ideologies.


Using antique texts and maps as the canvases for my works enables me to pragmatically re-contextualise ephemera, creating a cohesion between the concepts informing the work and the aesthetic output. As I empower various figures; I simultaneously do so with the ground used, presenting them within new contexts. Placing myself or family members as the subjects of my portraits evokes a sense of immediacy, apropos to navigating the intersection of my western upbringing and familial west African culture.

Informed by my Sierra Leonean and Lebanese heritage, I am conscious of representing figures that have historically been conspicuously omitted from traditional British portraiture. I call upon anecdotal references to portray scenes that are occasionally quasi surrea...

2014-2017 Loughborough University: Fine Art BA

6-10 July 2021, Society of Graphic Fine Art 99th Annual Exhibition - Mall Galleries, London

7 July-20 September 2021, Figurative Art Now - online exhibition

19-29 May 2021, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 209th Exhibition - Mall Galleries, London

17 April-5 June 2021, RCA Annual Exhibition 2021 - Royal Cambrian Academy of Art, Conwy, Wales

15-24 April 2021, Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition - Mall Galleries, London

​1 October 2020 - 28 February 2021, Wells Art Contemporary 2020 - Wells Cathedral, Somerset

1 - 12 September 2020, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 208th Exhibition - Mall Galleries, London

19 - 29 February 2020, Royal Society of British Artists 303rd Annual Exhibition - Mall galleries, London

14 February – 1 November 2020, MK Calling 2020 – MK Gallery, Milton Keynes

18 January- 5 April, Embracing Our Differences 2020 – Sarasota Park, Florida, USA

14 -24 November 2019, ING Discerning Eye Drawing Bursary 2019 – Mall Galleries, London

25 October – 30 November 2019, Point Black Collective: Black Steps - Bernie Grant Art Centre, London.

22 October – 2 November 2019, Society of Graphic Fine Art: Draw ’19 – Menier Gallery, London

27 July – 31 A...