Sculptor · NLP practitioner · Hypnotherapist
Elio Y. Haddad
I am not an artist. I am a visual philosopher.
Elio Y. Haddad is a sculptor based in Beirut. His practice spans sculpture, installation, photography, painting, and writing, and is shaped by a life lived between Lebanon and Brazil.
His works are a meditation on the human condition, articulated with simplicity and depth: the complexity of contemporary relationships, the search for meaning, and what language cannot hold. Haddad draws on his own feelings and reflections as he works, investigating self-concept and positioning in relation to others and challenging the illusion of separateness.
Public installations include Congratulations & Condolences in the garden of the Sursock Palace, Gemmayzeh (2019), and a permanent work at Bossa Nova Hotel, Beirut, as well as Aqua in Rio de Janeiro and the video installation Phoenician at Zico House (2024).
“Art gives me the ability to reflect deeply on certain aspects of the human condition. It allows me to express what words fail to convey. Simple, accurate, and deep — these words define my work.”
Education
- Faculdade da Cidade, Rio de Janeiro — graphic and industrial design; history of art and its influence on design
- Atelier Fleuri Menezes — sculpture school and workshop; sculpture in ceramics
- Escola de Artes Visuais (EAV) — history of modern and contemporary art; art market and trends
- Centro de Artes Calouste Gulbenkian — ceramics and terracotta, sculpture and moulding workshops
Selected exhibitions & installations
- Congratulations & Condolences II — Bossa Nova Hotel, Beirut (permanent), 2019
- Congratulations & Condolences — garden of the Sursock Palace, Gemmayzeh, Beirut, 2019
- Phoenician — video installation, MESH exhibition, Zico House, Beirut, 2024
- Rio com muito Amor — Brazil–Lebanon Cultural Center, Beirut, 2014
- Incógnito Sertão — Brazil–Lebanon Cultural Center, Beirut, 2016
- AQUA (with Sandra Passos) — Parque das Ruínas, Rio de Janeiro, 2011
A second discipline
The mind behind the metal.
Alongside the studio, Elio is a certified NLP practitioner and a certified hypnotherapist (5 and 7 Path techniques). Neuro-Linguistic Programming studies how people structure experience through language, perception and habit; hypnotherapy works with the unconscious patterns that shape what we feel and choose.
These disciplines sit close to the subject of Emotional Dissonance: how two people can stand in the same space and still fail to arrive at one another. The gap between what is said and what is meant. The gap between the image we hold of someone and the person in front of us.
It also explains the phrase that opens this page. A visual philosopher does not decorate a thought, they make it something you can walk around.
Artist statement
Eternal echoes of the soul
A labyrinth of emotions from the heart to the mind,
I wonder what guides me through this tangled time.
I sculpt with care, I paint in vivid hues,
A canvas of feelings, raw and pure.
Whispers of sorrow, echoes of joy,
In each heartbeat, life’s pulse is deeply felt.
A click that captures fleeting dreams,
Silent expressions, whispered truths.
Timeless installations, monuments in time and space,
My poetry does not adorn, it simply witnesses and manifests,
Complex though simple, my humanity unfolds,
Moments of light in shadows intertwined.
Profound and deep, my soul’s reflection,
In shared secrets, my artist’s journey revealed.
Press & media
- Radio interview with Nour Kaasamani, Voice of Lebanon
- Art Talk with Elio — the podcast: conversations with artists, gallerists and collectors
- Interview, MTV Lebanon
For galleries, curators & collectors
Catalogue, availability and studio visits.
The complete series is documented in a 37-page catalogue with dimensions for every work. Write for availability, a price list, loans or a visit to the Beirut studio.
