ARTISTS

Fadi Yazigi

Youssef Abdelke

Abdullah Murad

Fatima El-Hajj

Mark Hachem Gallery curated exhibition for Asia Now focuses on Syria. It features four established contemporary artists. Fadi Yazigi, Youssef Abdelke, Abdullah Murad are Syrian while Fatima El Hajj is Lebanese.

Abdelke’s works presented are black and white still lifes. It is after his imprisonment as an opponent and because of the difficult situation in Syria that Youssef started using dark colors, creating a heavy atmosphere and allowing him to address serious issues.

Fatima uses a wide range of colors. Although she is bright and colorful, she aims to create a calm atmosphere throughout her work. Her landscapes recall thematic and aesthetic principles that can be found in the works of impressionist painters of the past.

Yazigi’s poetic art aims to portray human nature and characters with their everyday flaws. By using creative and diverse materials and techniques on a variety of supports, he triggers vivid emotions in his viewers, blending notions of plurality and individuality.

Murad is considered one of the pioneers of abstract expressionist Arab Art. His abstract art recalls desert and Mediterranean landscapes. With sometimes heavy impasto of his brushstrokes and collages he is exploring the tension between balance and imbalance.

The works of these artists have been collected by museums: British Museum, Delfina Foundation London, Mathaf Museum, Institut du Monde Arabe and others.

Jean-Marc Decrop