Feature writer: Elina Clavarino

“It is not a boutique,” the Lebanese painter and designer Gilbert Halaby says of his eclectic Rome atelier, where vintage belts, hand-painted silk sarongs, custom jewelry, and one-of-a-kind bags coexist with books by Arabic philosophers. “It is like a small salotto,” he adds—Italian for “living room.” Though he has designed jewelry for Lady Gaga and won several awards, Halaby, 44, has recently slowed down his fashion output. Today, his mind is very much on one thing. “I’ve never stopped painting,” he says. Last March, in Beirut and to wide acclaim, Halaby hosted his first solo show of paintings. Then, in June, he presented his series “Une Comédie Romaine,” executed in blocks of Luis Barragán–inspired color, at Maja Arte Contemporanea, in Rome. Now, he’ll exhibit work from his “Domus Berytus” with the Italian Cultural Institute at Artbooth Gallery, in Abu Dhabi. “It’s what I dreamt of all along,” Halaby says. “It’s like maturing, like a fruit.”