Galerie Claude Lemand

YOUSSEF ABDELKE - A Donation against Death in Syria.
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Claude Lemand:

While he had never hesi­tated to clearly express his polit­ical posi­tions in the local and inter­na­tional press, Youssef Abdelké had always refused to com­ment on his works or give them a polit­ical meaning. He told jour­nal­ists in 2002 and 2010: "This Fish with a sev­ered head is a fish with a sev­ered head"... until the change that occurred after the out­break of the bloody repres­sion of the pop­ular uprising in 2011, when the artist replaced the rep­re­sen­ta­tion of objects in his still lifes with the corpses of mur­dered mar­tyrs.

Youssef Abdelké’s still lifes are para­bles of the social, cul­tural, and polit­ical life of Syria, which per­me­ates his entire work. His draw­ings are pow­er­fully expres­sionist, not in the expres­sionist style known in the West, but in a cold and con­trolled trans­po­si­tion of the tragic Syrian reality. His series of Figures, Still Lifes, Martyrs and Nudes are the sub­lime icons of an art which, after having been pre­mon­i­tory, denounces tor­ture, honors the vic­tims and announces a uni­ver­salist humanist renais­sance to come.
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Emmanuel Daydé (extract):

By donating to the Museum of the Institut du monde arabe 23 works by Syrian painter Youssef Abdelké, dating from 1991 to 2017, Claude and France Lemand pre­sent a dra­matic and grip­ping pic­ture of Syria’s mar­tyrdom.

Engraver and painter, an advo­cate of freedom or death, he has always raised his art like a mirac­u­lous weapon against noth­ing­ness. Outraged by the injus­tice and by all the vio­la­tions done to human integrity, Abdelké uses his fear of death as a new means of sur­vival.
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Youssef ABDELKE - Donation Claude & France Lemand:

Pastels and col­lage on paper :
 Figures 3, 1991. Pastel and col­lage on paper, 145 x 110 cm.
 Figures 5, 1991. Pastel et col­lage sur papier, 146 x 108 cm.
 Figures, 1993. Pastel et col­lage sur papier, 100 x 70 cm.
 Figures, 1993. Pastel et col­lage sur papier, 100 x 70 cm.
 Figures, 1993. Pastel et col­lage sur papier, 103 x 70 cm.
 Figures, 1994. Pastel et col­lage sur papier, 65 x 54 cm.
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Charcoal on paper :
 Birds of Paradise, 2007. Charcoal on paper, 100 x 40 cm.
 Crâne ligoté, 2007. Fusain sur papier, 108 x 148 cm.
 Le Couteau et l’Oiseau, 2007. Fusains sur papier, 190 x 50 cm.
 Os et Fleur, 2009. Fusain sur papier, 35 x 53 cm.
 Pinceau cloué, 2009. Fusain sur papier, 36 x 48 cm.
 Cactus et couteau, 2009. Fusain sur papier, 35 x 47 cm.
 Oiseau et Damier, 2010. Fusain sur papier, 149 x 146 cm.
 Oignon et épingles, 2010. Fusain sur papier, 100 x 40 cm.
 Cœur transpercé, 2011. Fusain sur papier, 108 x 147 cm.
 St Jean Chrysostome est enterré à Damas..., 2012. Fusain et acrylique sur papier, 145 x 193 cm.
 Vase et sang, 2013. Fusain et acrylique sur papier, 40 x 100 cm.
 Bouteille et fleurs, 2014. Fusain sur papier, 52 x 35 cm.
 Mâchoire, 2016. Fusain sur papier, 40 x 100 cm.
 Nu, 2015. Fusain sur papier, 50 x 65 cm.
 Nu, 2015. Fusain sur papier, 50 x 65 cm.
 Nu, 2016. Fusain sur papier, 50 x 65 cm.
 Nu, 2017. Fusain sur papier, 50 x 65 cm.