Known for his emotionally charged paintings, vibrant use of color, dynamic figural posturing, and meticulous rendering of light, Jaber Alwan, an Iraqi artist, expresses his creative process as a quest to discover beauty within nightmares. According to Alwan, the true challenge lies in capturing the allure amidst the dramatic. When he takes up the brush, he relinquishes control, allowing the painting itself to take the lead.

Born in a rural village near Babylon, Iraq, in 1948, Jaber Alwan pursued his artistic education at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Baghdad, graduating in 1970. Seeking further knowledge and inspiration, he journeyed to Rome and enrolled in the Accademia di belle arti, where he completed his studies in the Department of Sculpture in 1975 and the Department of Painting in 1978. Due to exile from Iraq, Alwan established himself in Italy and later established a studio in Damascus.

With a primary focus on the female form, Alwan's artwork often portrays figures in motion, exuding sensuality within their environments, backgrounds, and the interplay of light and shadows. While he skillfully depicts the physical characteristics and poses of his subjects, he purposely leaves their facial features non-descript, lending a sense of anonymity to the models.

Alwan's artwork can be found in various public collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in Baghdad, the Museum of Modern Art in Gulbenkian, Lisbon, the Dei Diamanti Palace in Ferrara, Italy, the Museum of Modern Art in Damascus, the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar, the Academy Museum in Ravenna, Italy, and the Opera House in Cairo. Additionally, his pieces have been acquired by private collectors across the globe, extending as far as Russia, Japan, and Chile.