I recently caught up with a friend of mine, Omar Khouri, with whom I spent a few summers as a kid in Lebanon (along with other luminaries like Omar Naim and Fadi Baki). Khouri’s star is rising in the art world; his paintings have been exhibited in New York and Beirut, and some of his recent stuff is available for sale at Saatchi online. I suggest that well-heeled readers go out and buy his work now before it becomes outrageously expensive.

We sat down for a virtual chat about fine art, comics, film, and politics.

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QN: What have you been up to these days? You’re busy.

Khouri: I’m preparing for my upcoming solo exhibition, starting on the 10th of March, 2015, at Agial Art Gallery in Beirut. The opening will coincide with the release of a book of my work, published by Plan Bey, that dances the line between comics and painting. I…