Lot 15: Youssef Abdelki (Syrian, B. 1951)

Youssef Abdelki (Syrian, B. 1951)
Pear 2
signed and dated in Arabic (lower left)
charcoal on paper
39½ x 58 1/8in. (100 x 148cm.)
Painted in 2007

Damascus, Ayyam Gallery, Youssef Abdelki, December 2007, p. 127 (illustrated).

Ayyam Gallery (Exh. cat.) Abdelke, Yousef, Damascus 2007, p. 127 (illustrated in colour).

In his work, Youssef Abdelki glorifies things, he sheds light on mundane items that are unnoticed most of the times, for example images of things used in our daily life, for the service of life or objects that have no real value until they are occupying the center of his oeuvre - a worn shoe, the head of a fish that has just been cut with the eye still alive, a knife and a match. These objects turn into icons, on empty walls or on tables, symbols for weakness or strength.

This lot is the only work by acclaimed Syrian artist Youssef Abdelke to ever have his self-portrait contained within it. This very special detail of his face was added with the thoughts of the artist's beloved grandmother on his mind. He initially wanted to depict her picture, but was not able to find one, so he opted to portray his face instead. He thought that this would please her too.

His grandmother, like many from her generation, had covered paintings on her wall with images of her children, photos of her grandchildren, and loved ones, together with nice notes sent to her from all of them. Over time, these added souvenirs occupied a major space on the surface of each painting almost completely concealing the original surface of what was once 'an art work'.

This habit of transforming art works into visual diaries is practiced as an unconscious act, where people's main focal point of interest with the passing time becomes linked to their emotions - they stop looking at the actual art work, and look at the existence and their continuous being. This practice really questions the effect of an art work with time.

In his wall series, Youssef Abdelki clips images, like his grandmother's 'details' from life, to catch the attention of the viewer, whom (he thinks) forgets to see clearly most of the time as viewers are looking mostly at the whole/the full. Abdelki questions what is important, what is relevant - the presence, and resonance of each chosen image added carefully to a wall, pinned, taped or simply inserted into another much larger frame.


PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION