Shanoor is an American neo-symbolic expresionist, fine artist, designer, creative director, photographer, CEO, Owner of Devarj Design Agency, Inc. and speaker who has been making art for five decades.
His artistic career began at the tender age of 16 in Beirut, Lebanon, where he lived until 1975 when, because of the Lebanese civil war, he migrated to the United States.
As a precocious sixteen-year-old, his work was exhibited in the Armenian Genocide Exhibition in Beirut. That year, his paintings were also accepted at the German Cultural Association for International Children’s exhibitions.
His work was later featured in the Children’s Museum of Armenia (1966), and in a group show at the Musée Sursok (1967). In 1969, Shanoor assisted in sculpting the official portrait bust of The Honorable Sami (Bay) Solh,
the Prime Minister of Lebanon, and in 1974, marking an important final achievement in Beirut just before moving to the US, Shanoor participated in a milestone group show at Galerie Contemporaine with Middle Eastern artists Rafic Charaf, Fateh Al Mudarress, and Juliana Séraphim.
He was educated in advertising design with a BFA at London’s Barking College and following Shanoor’s move to Chicago in 1975 he was educated at the Art Institute of Chicago.
He began a career in art direction, branding, and design for advertising agencies such as Leo Burnett, BBDO before eventually opening his own design firm in 1984. Alongside his fruitful career in design, Shanoor continued to develop his personal artistic practice.
Shanoor began experimenting with painting on a range of new materials, including large un-stretched canvases, shower curtains, and found paper, and held shows at various alternative and traditional art spaces and world wide tours including Spain, Greece, Berlin, Venice, Switzerland, NY, Miami, Amsterdam, Chicago, Boston, LA, SC, NC, IN and Missouri.
Art transcends isolation-it becomes a universal language, a bridge to connect us all. For Shanoor, this truth has been a guiding force in his life and work. Arriving in Chicago at 26, Shanoor brought with him a profound passion for visual storytelling. His journey began with formal training in advertising design in London, which led to a successful career as an art director at the esteemed Leo Burnett agency. Yet, his heart always belonged to painting, a practice he has pursued since the age of six.
Born into a family shaped by the pain of displacement, Shanoor’s art is a reflection of his personal history and a powerful statement on the human condition. His work is driven by an urgency to express and disrupt, creating a dialogue that challenges viewers to confront the unfamiliar.
Shanoor describes his unique style as Neo Symbolic Expressionism, a response to the extreme conditions of our time. Inspired by surrealism and the transformative power of Picasso, his art reinvents reality on the canvas. Eyes multiply, lips stretch into otherworldly shapes, and hands transform into fluid, clay-like forms. These extraordinary subjects, set against stark, simple backgrounds, create a provocative interplay between the ordinary and the hyper-real.
The tragedies and triumphs that have marked Shanoor’s life are deeply embedded in his creative process. Drawing from the displacement of his parents and his own sense of dislocation, he crafts characters and worlds that exist on the edge of the real and the imagined. Through his art, he explores themes of identity, memory, and transformation, creating a new reality where free expression reigns.
Shanoor’s work is more than an artistic vision-it is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Each piece invites viewers into a world that is simultaneously strange and familiar, urging them to reflect on their perceptions and embrace new perspectives.
Through his paintings, Shanoor not only tells his story but also offers a space where others can find meaning, connection, and inspiration.
