ARTISTS
Youssef 础产诲别濒办茅: Schwarz
In 1976 he produced a large-scale work on Black September - portraying the massacres of Palestinians in Jordan in 1970, which revealed a militant artist who, ever since, has been relentlessly denouncing violence, fighting for freedom of thoughts and human rights. 础产诲别濒办茅 was arrested for nearly two years in 1978, and then moved to France. Unable to return home, he lived and worked in Paris for twenty-four years. In 2005, despite the risks involved, he decided to travel back to Damascus, and was allowed through border security; but in 2010 his passport was confiscated by the authorities, who held him prisoner in his own country. He was arrested again for five weeks in 2013.
Speaking about his activism, Youssef 础产诲别濒办茅 says: 鈥淚 still believe today in progress and freedom of societies, I believe in the value of human life, and the respect of human rights. No one should ever be imprisoned for their opinions. An opinion should be faced with ideas, and not responded to with imprisonment鈥�. His time in prison and in exile deeply affected his practice, leading him to focus on drawing and etching. Using tools that scrape the surface of paper, he produces sharp compositions that convey a lucid and rational approach to life; transposing on paper what human bodies endure under dictatorships or in times of war. He largely focuses on still-life, revisiting a genre that is traditionally associated with ornamental arts, and valued for its esthetic qualities, in order to highlight the violence that governs humanity. His drawings systematically depict delicate beings, or objects linked to his practice as an artist, that are faced with harsh and cruel elements: a paintbrush is depicted with a dead fly besides it, a fish is nailed to its background and a bunch of lilies is threatened by pins. His still-lifes acutely express incomprehension and indignation in reaction to loss and death. His subjects also include portraits of prisoners鈥� families, or severed human or animal limbs, proposing a more direct reference to Syria鈥檚 recent political history.
The artist exclusively produces work in black and white, and, despite the stillness of his drawings, they overflow with rage at injustice and abuse of power. His personal approach to perspective and his exploration of lines through drawing and etching reveal a multi-layered practice, that highlights the fragility of men and unexpectedly celebrates human life.
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In 1976 he produced a large-scale work on Black September - portraying the massacres of Palestinians in Jordan in 1970, which revealed a militant artist who, ever since, has been relentlessly denouncing violence, fighting for freedom of thoughts and human rights. 础产诲别濒办茅 was arrested for nearly two years in 1978, and then moved to France. Unable to return home, he lived and worked in Paris for twenty-four years. In 2005, despite the risks involved, he decided to travel back to Damascus, and was allowed through border security; but in 2010 his passport was confiscated by the authorities, who held him prisoner in his own country. He was arrested again for five weeks in 2013.
Speaking about his activism, Youssef 础产诲别濒办茅 says: 鈥淚 still believe today in progress and freedom of societies, I believe in the value of human life, and the respect of human rights. No one should ever be imprisoned for their opinions. An opinion should be faced with ideas, and not responded to with imprisonment鈥�. His time in prison and in exile deeply affected his practice, leading him to focus on drawing and etching. Using tools that scrape the surface of paper, he produces sharp compositions that convey a lucid and rational approach to life; transposing on paper what human bodies endure under dictatorships or in times of war. He largely focuses on still-life, revisiting a genre that is traditionally associated with ornamental arts, and valued for its esthetic qualities, in order to highlight the violence that governs humanity. His drawings systematically depict delicate beings, or objects linked to his practice as an artist, that are faced with harsh and cruel elements: a paintbrush is depicted with a dead fly besides it, a fish is nailed to its background and a bunch of lilies is threatened by pins. His still-lifes acutely express incomprehension and indignation in reaction to loss and death. His subjects also include portraits of prisoners鈥� families, or severed human or animal limbs, proposing a more direct reference to Syria鈥檚 recent political history.
The artist exclusively produces work in black and white, and, despite the stillness of his drawings, they overflow with rage at injustice and abuse of power. His personal approach to perspective and his exploration of lines through drawing and etching reveal a multi-layered practice, that highlights the fragility of men and unexpectedly celebrates human life.
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