Lot 101: Yousef Ahmad , b. 1955 Untitled oil on canvas

signed and dated 08 oil on canvas

120 by 120cm.; 47 1/4 by 47 1/4 in.

Artspace Gallery, Dubai
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Immediately after graduating with a Masters degree in Fine Arts from California University in 1982, Yousef Ahmad held an exhibition in Washington D.C. that would mark an important turning point in his career. His artistic training had begun almost a quarter of a century before, when - although just a toddler - he would take the coals with which his mother used to light the cooking fire and scribble short phrases on the walls of his home in Qatar. A precocious child with an artistic spirit, he pursued this innate passion for graphic design. At early as primary school, he discovered the potential versatility of colours, which he explored throughout secondary school and at the university in Cairo. Yet throughout this journey, Ahmad held those first calligraphic exercises on the walls of his house very close to himself, which - after nearly twenty years of artistic training - he developed into his mature work which he describes as the result of "using and subjugating the Arabic calligraphy and letters in order to find new artistic solutions." (Y. Ahmad, YousefAhmad.com).

Untitled embodies the artist's original artistic treatment of traditional Arabic calligraphy. The forms projected onto the canvas do not merely present an aesthetically pleasing design, but invite the discerning viewer to question the origins of these forms that make up the Arabic alphabet. Indeed, these curving shapes and the carefully adorned surface on which they are exhibited appear to be a snapshot of ever-changing figures that the artist has been able to capture. Palestinian artist Kamal Boullata praises Ahmad's technique, highlighting the ability with which he 'brings spontaneity to painting, introducing in the kingdom of geometry some Arabic calligraphy' (M. King, Art Contemporain Arabe, Paris 1988, p. 68).

Ahmad's talent does not only lie in his original treatment of Arabic calligraphy. Throughout his career, he has experimented with a large variety of colour schemes that have an equally strong impact on the dynamism and narrative of his work. His earlier paintings, which are decorated in various shades of brown and black, could be said to recall the "ephemerality of signs drawn onto the sand as they disappear with the sweeping desert winds." (Brahim Alaoui, Nicole de Pontcharra and Nabil Naoum, Perspective on Contemporary Arab Art, Paris 2002, pp. 114-5). Ahmad's careful treatment of blue, turquoise and yellow tones in Untitled is a beautiful attempt to evoke the colourful beaches of his native Qatar.

In Untitled, Yousef Ahmad masterfully combines colour and shape, engaging his audience in a vibrant composition of motion. The pseudo-calligraphy, surrounded by a meticulously detailed frame, proves the artist's comprehensive understanding of surface. Nevertheless - beneath these chromatic layers and twirling brushstrokes - an inquisitive viewer can find the same inspiration that led young Ahmad to trace his first carbon drawings: an instinctive curiosity for creation and innovation.