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Interweaving a visual narration with timeless symbols, Saudi artist Hussein Al Mohasen’s latest exhibition at Albareh Art Gallery takes viewers on a journey within and beyond.
The On The Edge of A Crumbling Cliff exhibition opened this week at the art gallery in Adliya and highlights the Qatif-born’s fascination with colour.
“My recent artwork is a visual narration inspired by poetry and my fascination with colour,” the 53-year-old artist told GulfWeekly.
“It explores the relationship between the cerebral experiences evoked by poetic language and their translation into vibrant, colourful spaces.
“Through texture and bold colours, I transform my interpretation of poetic rhythm into a unique visual experience.
“By abstracting poetry inscriptions, I create palpable geographic landscapes of ridges, crevices, shadows, and light.
“My goal is to transcend reality, inviting viewers on a visual journey that expresses my thoughts and feelings of peace and the love of humanity.
“I present a colourful perspective, offering a different way of seeing and experiencing the world.”
In total, around 20 of Hussein’s pieces are showcased in this exhibition.
Hussein has been active in the art world in the Gulf region since his first appearance in 1999 at the Al Janadriya Festival in Saudi Arabia, and has since occupied a place alongside pioneering Saudi artists.
His work is usually characterised by a singular dialogue between the audience and the artist, filled with images ‘as a series of surgical incisions, cutting open a theatre of horror and comedy into frozen frames.’
His sharp-coloured stenciled images translate into continuous and extended narratives of experiences that not only describe the world, but actively participate in it.
In his most recent body of work, the Saudi artist has moved away from abstract surfaces into symbolic and iconographic imageries, reflecting now the endless transitions of the contemporary between digital and real, political and social, private and public and the continuous transformation of the Gulf region, alternating a liquid modernity with solid traditions and histories.
His work is both conceptual and liberating, drawing on art from the public space, but executed here with the fine precision of a cartographer.
Behind the obvious simplicity of his works, lurks a decades-long journey shaped by poetry from the Arab world and the complex intersections between modern spaces and personal freedoms.
His work is visually global and overcomes regional paradigms, presenting the contemporary Arab experience after the poetry and music that inspired him.
His pieces have been exhibited all over the Middle East, with his most recent solo and group exhibitions held in Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE.
The exhibition runs until the end of the month.
For more details, follow @albarehartgallery and @hussein_almohasen on Instagram.
