Kid in military uniform, 2022

Bîstyek Zagros

Canadian, Syrian-Kurdish-born Bîstyek is a self-taught visual artist who has only been painting for a few years. In 2017, Bîstyek and his family were refugees in Lebanon when they qualified to resettle in Canada. And just a few years later, Bîstyek quit his job and began painting. For three solid months, all Bîstyek would do was paint, and he ended up with 50 pieces in various mediums, and they became the focus of the first solo exhibition in Winnipeg in Fall 2020. Much to Bîstyek's surprise, most of them sold, which allowed him to continue painting and bring his newest works to art lovers in Toronto in October 2021. His first solo Toronto exhibit entitled Inside Pain, was a resounding success as Bîstyek sold out all his paintings days before his exhibit wrapped. In April 2022, Artist Bîstyek had another gallery exhibit entitled F*ck War. The artist is no stranger to dealing with war, having been displaced by the Syrian conflict in 2011. Painting is incredibly personal to Bîstyek as he often paints portraits of refugees that he encountered. The Winnipeg Free Press remarked about his first solo exhibition, "His style is dramatic, angular, flashes of memories captured in unsettling shapes and sometimes saturated colour. It is his life, held up to the public view." Painting is Bîstyek's outlet to express his feelings as a new Canadian trying to adapt to his new home and create a better life.