At Buro247 Middle East, we are committed to showcasing and celebrating the extraordinary talent in the Arab world. With our column, #BuroSpotlights, we bring you stories of pioneering artists, innovative designers, tech trailblazers, cinematic visionaries, sports stars, and more.
This week, #BuroSpotlights Lebanese illustrator Atef Khodr.
There’s something about Atef Khodr’s illustrations that makes you stop mid-scroll. Maybe it’s the familiar chaos of Beirut rendered in psychedelic color. Maybe it’s the subtle ache tucked between lines of humor and heartbreak. Or maybe it’s that eerie feeling of being seen, especially if you’ve ever called Lebanon home.
Based in Dubai but eternally pulled toward Beirut, Khodr is not your typical illustrator. By day, he crunches numbers in digital advertising. By night, he draws the emotional cartography of a city that is his home. His work doesn’t just look like Beirut, it feels like it too. Messy, loud, and uncomfortable, Khodr finds endless inspiration in the chaos of Beirut that he struggles to find elsewhere.
Khodr’s work is fuelled by his memories of the Lebanese capital. That connection—deep, complex, and not always romantic—is what sets his work apart. Khodr’s style is rooted in his childhood obsessions with comic books. He has developed two distinct voices in his art—one introverted and searching, the other extroverted and expressive. Both are unapologetically personal. Just like Beirut itself—torn yet tender, chaotic yet comforting—Atef Khodr’s work is an ongoing conversation. One that keeps evolving, line by line, frame by frame.
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