YOUSSEF ABDELKÉ | QUARTETS SALAH JAHIN

Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art is thrilled to host solo exhibition by the well-known Syrian Artist Youssef Abdelké.

After a long absence from the Egyptian scene, Youssef Abdelké comes back with a new exhibition entitled “Quartets Salah Jahin”.

Written by the Egyptian poet between 1959 and 1962, the quartets inspired Abdelké a series of impressive drawings executed between 2015 and 2019. Abdelké made later a limited edition of 10 numbered and signed prints, including hommages to famous artists like Marcel Duchamps, Mahmoud Mokhtar, Hokusai, Mahmoud Said and Sheikh Imam.

​Youssef Abdelke’s hyper -realistic charcoal works on paper evoke a nation at war as they attempt to “express the concerns and emotions of the ordinary Syrian citizen amid this huge river of blood,” says the artist, referring to his native country’s recent history. His carefully rendered still lifes are splattered with red paint and often include overt memento mori such as skulls, bones, and even a heart impaled on a nail. Abdelke lived in Paris from 1981 through 2005 and attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. However, he was later forbidden from leaving Syria after his passport was confiscated and he was arrested for his activism.

Courtesy of Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art

Feature: Work from Youssef Abdelké’s exhibition “Quartets Salah Jahin”