YOUSSEF FROM THE INSIDE

WHEN YOU STAB THE GROUND, A SPARROW DIES TOO

Paintings by Youssef Abdelke
Photographs by Nassouh Zaghlouleh

Youssef from the Inside is a visual counter to the function of photography in Syria over the past two years, which has been concerned predominantly with documenting and bearing witness. This series of images by the veteran Syrian photographer Nassouh Zaghlouleh presents an engrossing vision of the artist Youssef Abdelke.

All the paintings in the photographs were chosen by Zaghlouleh over a five-year period, during which Abdelke prepared for a number of exhibitions. Abdelke himself had never seen the photographs, and Zaghlouleh would not have published them; however, when the Syrian authorities arrested the artist in July 2013 – for the second time in his life – the photographer made them available to campaigns to free Abdelke.

The photographs reflect the deep, abiding friendship between these two creators, each of whom espouses a different vision of life with his own style – charcoal and the camera, respectively. Zaghlouleh considers this series of images profoundly personal.

The photographs also depart from Zaghlouleh’s previous work, as they are mostly in black and white. However, he did choose to represent his friend in full colour, in contrast to the backdrops consisting of Abdelke’s large-sized charcoal paintings. Might Zaghlouleh have been influenced by Abdelke’s ‘coal’ in these pictures? ‘Not exactly,’ he says, ‘I’m actually more influenced by the solidity and technical depth of Youssef, who was and still remains one of the most important teachers for me.’

Zaghlouleh, speaking of their friendship, laughs: ‘We have known each other for thirty years.’ It dates back to when Zaghlouleh moved to Paris to pursue his studies. There he met Abdelke, who had left Syria for France following his first arrest in the late 1970s.

The idea for this series came about by chance, Zaghlouleh explains. ‘While filming the paintings being taken to a gallery for an exhibition, I took these pictures of Youssef with the bird painting. Since then I have been stealing these shots without Youssef paying attention to what I’m doing. Then I kept them for myself.’

The absence of a face-on portrait of the artist shows the playful aspect of Abdelke’s art through Zaghlouleh’s perspective. Instead of capturing the presence of the artist directly, Zaghlouleh explores movement and interaction within the larger vocabulary of the paintings. The result is the product of a subtle eye that allows for a different reading of the relationship between art and the body.