“The explosion is about a moment that can erase all dreams, all opportunities, all ideas,” said the curly-haired 24-year-old, who painted the image after leaving Damascus last summer.

Shelling, car bombings and early curfews have brought Syria’s once-vibrant art scene to a halt since the fighting began nearly 2-1/2 years ago, and sent hundreds of young Syrian artists like Habbab to neighboring Lebanon, where they have found both a safe place and a receptive audience.

Mark Hachem, who has eponymous contemporary art galleries in Beirut, Paris and New York, says the civil war has ended up intensifying interest in Syrian art as more artists leave the country and exhibit outside.

“I find myself organizing exhibitions for artists and art fairs, and subconsciously — I don’t even look — 80 percent of the work I’m gathering is Syrian,” he told Reuters.