He studied painting, sculpture, and printing at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts in Beirut and the Academia di Belle Arti in Rome.
Born in 1938 in Shebaa, South Lebanon, Madi would outline the silhouette of a woman across the entire canvas using quick strokes of his large brush.
His paintings frequently explore the interplay between straight and curved lines, reflecting his cultural heritage through the features of Oriental figures.
In his artwork, Madi captures two distinct expressions: one static, symbolizing permanence in the face of transience and reflecting the deep Oriental faith in immortality and eternal rest; the other a facial expression of cruel irony, akin to a mask in Greek tragedy, or conveying suffering through stiff posture, akin to a dreadful cry, resonating with the roar of an Assyrian lioness dragging along her crushed pride.
Italian critic Joseph Silvaggi, in his writings about Madi, describes his drawings as filled with symbols and rich in artistic conventions presented in simplified forms—a kind of enchanted script and summary of figurative art in the modern era.