Hussein Al Mohasen
Hussein Al Mohasen Mixed media
Side by Side Gallery Akim Monet GmbH Potsdamer Strasse 81b 10785 Berlin - Germany T. +49-30-25 46 09 44 F. +49-30-25 46 09 45 info@sidebysidegallery.com www.sidebysidegallery.com
ARTIST STATEMENT I started to experiment with graffiti art as I found it so inspiring to see people all over the world showing how they feel with just a few words, sprayed onto a wall. I find the physicality of creating this type of work liberating, as well as the spectrum of colours I have at my disposal. Colour is very important in my work – the different connotations associated with certain colours embellish what I am saying in my work. Hussein Al Mohasen, April 2012
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Hussein al Mohasen is a Saudi Arabian artist, living and working in Qatif, KSA. Al Mohasen, like most artists, is inspired by what he sees around him – what makes Al Mohasen’s art different is how he sees the world around him. Al Mohasen has been exhibiting throughout Saudi Arabia and the Middle East for the past 14 years – showing his work in over fifteen solo shows and twenty group shows during this period. Al Mohasen has become well known for his abstracted, calligraphic works featuring bold colouring and highly detailed, intricate calligraphic script throughout the last decade. Al Mohasen thrives on the use of colour and uses it to create specific feelings in his work. His earlier works often hint towards figurative shapes, without ever becoming entirely clear, disappearing into an abstracted landscape of colour and text. In 2009 Al Mohasen began experimenting with the concept of graffiti art. His focus altered slightly, or perhaps became clearer to what he wanted to portray in his work. He liked the way graffiti art put forth an idea quickly and without complication, that it was accessible to all who viewed it, whether or not they had studied art. It also appealed to his technique of combining abstracted imagery with text, and in his mind seemed to be the next logical step in his
(1) Hussein AL MOHASEN Poems in Blue, 2012
Hussein AL MOHASEN Danger Mines, 2013
technique. He began creating more works in this manner, finally creating a full body of work in time for a solo show.
(2) Hussein AL MOHASEN ‘Oil for Food’, 2012
In his 2012 solo exhibition at XVA Gallery, Dubai, Al Mohasen first displayed a full body of graffiti work under the title ‘I Love You Green’. The title of this exhibition could be said to embody Al Mohasen’s artistic mantra – his love of colour, of exclamation, his passion for all things. The works in the exhibition feature imagery and text from a variety of sources – Al Mohasen describing his inspiration as what he sees and hears around him, Saudi Arabian Visual and Oral culture. The works also seem to channel pop culture, bright in hue and demanding attention. In his ‘Poems in Blue’ (1) we see Al Mohasen drawing from regional culture, appropriating the words of a wellknown poem written by HRH Sheikh Mohammad al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, UAE. In this series we also see the work ‘Oil for Food’ (2) which explores the regions relationship with the oil industry by utilizing well-known pop-art iconography (Lichenstein) holding an oilcan in the air, with a repeated image of ex Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the background. In the more recents works by Al Mohasen we see this complex mixture of cultural imagery and media combine. True to his earlier practice, Al Mohasen’s works are bright and colourful, seemingly cheerful; that often have a darker remark or undertone lurking underneath the cheery exterior. For instance, ‘No Fly Zone’ (3) immediately makes us think of the ongoing conflict in the MENASA region. The stenciled airplanes reinforce this image, which then takes a surrealist turn as the viewer notes the
twirling ballerinas towards the lower part of the work, and the lurid purple background. In Al Mohasen’s work there is always a sense of fun and of play, but there is undoubtedly more than meets the eye. Al Mohasen will always state his work is not political, that he is merely depicting what he sees, his visual culture, but one has to ask if that is the case, why so much of the imagery he chooses is indeed political in nature. He draws constantly from an art historical dialogue, choosing icons from famous works of art to coincide with his message – a mixture of Western icons with a Saudi Arabian focus. He also loves to draw upon poetry, oral culture and music from the MENASA region. Meagan Kelly Horsman (3) Hussein AL MOHASEN No Fly Zone, 2013
Hussein AL MOHASEN I Can’t Find The Truth, 2013
PLATES
Hussein AL MOHASEN (b. 1971) DANGER MINES, 2013 Mixed media and stencil graffiti on paper  120 x 120 cm
Hussein AL MOHASEN (b. 1971) THE CRUEL SEA, 2013 Mixed media and stencil graffiti on paper  120 x 120 cm
The Cruel Sea features the name of a film made in 1973 by the State of Kuwait (of the same name). It is a very well known film across the Arabian Peninsula and Al Mohasen creates this work with a sense of nostalgia. For him the film is reminiscent of a simpler time, earlier in his life, and just the title of the film has a sense of community about it, as everyone knows and usually loves this tragic tale. “The first feature film to be made by the state of Kuwait. It is a period piece about Kuwait before the discovery of oil when fishing was the predominant occupation. Bay Ya Bahr is the story of a crippled pearl diver who forbids his son Mussaid to go to sea to dive for pearls. Mussaid’s father got the ‘bends’ after resurfacing too fast during a shark attack on his boat. However, the boy cannot see any other way to make enough money to mary Nura, his beloved. Nura is the daughter of a merchant who wants her to marry for money. Finally, his father gives Mussaid permission to go to sea
and even gives him his special black diving suit. Mussaid then works with the man to whom his father owes money. While Mussaid is away, Nura is forced by her family to marry a rich, older suitor. During his last dive Mussaid puts his hand inside a huge clam, which closes on it. Mussaid is gasping for air and his friend has to amputate his arm in order to ‘rescue’ him. However Mussaid was dead long before he was brought to the boat. Her husband meanwhile rapes Nura on her wedding night. Mussaid’s best friend looks through his cache of oysters and gradually starts opening all of them. Finally when he gets to the last one he finds a huge pearl inside. Maybe Mussaid’s death will not be in vain if he can give this to Mussaid’s family. When the boat reaches Kuwait, the dead body of her son and his prize - the pearl - for which he lost his life, welcomes Mussaid’s mother. The mother stares at the sea with unbridled rage and flings the pearl into it uttering the phrase: “Bas ya bahr” (enough oh sea)! Written by Sujit R. Varma”
Hussein AL MOHASEN (b. 1971) I CAN’T FIND THE TRUTH, 2013 Mixed media and stencil graffiti on paper 120 x 120 cm
Hussein AL MOHASEN (b. 1971) NO FLY ZONE, 2013 Mixed media and stencil graffiti on paper  120 x 85 cm
CURRICULUM VITAE
B. Qatif, KSA 1971, lives in Qatif Select Solo Exhibitions 2012 2010 2008 2008 2007 2007 2006 2006 2005 2004 2004 2004 2003 2002 2001
I Love You Green, XVA Gallery, Dubai Memories and Mirages, The Running Horse Contemporary Art Space, Beirut, Lebanon Now, Zara Art Gallery, Jordan Colour Isolation, Desert Designs, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia Day, Dar Al Funoon, Kuwat Blue Stories, Desert Designs, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia Turqoise Isolation, Atelier, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Violet State, Albareh Art Gallery, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Summer, Al-Khobar Shada Gallery, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia The Season of Return, Atelier, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia The Season of Return, Ohoud Gallery, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia The Season of Return, Bahrain Arts Society, Bahrain Espaces pour les Harbes, Art Center, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia Vision, Aribick Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Haven, Inma Gallery, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Select Group Exhibitions 2012 Diversity From The Arb World, Albareh Art Gallery, Bahrain 2012 Dar Al Funoon Art Gallery, Kuwait 2011 Mesaha, Ro’iya Art Gallery, Jeddaht 2011 Position, Velocity, Acceleration, XVA Gallery, Dubai
2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2007 2006 2006 2005 2005 2005 2004 2003 2003 2003 2002 2001 2001 1999 1999
Edge of Arabia, Tension, Istanbul, Turkey Saudi Artist Group, Royal Opera House, Eygp Bastakiya Art Fair Bayt Abdullah Art Show, Dar Al Funoon, Kuwait XVA Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE Go Beyond, Athr Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Art Dubai, Athr Gallery, Dubai, UAE XVA Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE Sharjah Museum of Art of Arabic Calligraphy, Sharjah, UAE Words & Alphabets, Albareh Art Gallery, Bahrain Bayt Abdullah Art Show, Dar Al Funoon, Kuwait XVA Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE Arabic Art Festival, Beijing, China XVA Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE XVA Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE Bahrain Arts Society, Art Center, Bahrain Al-Khobar Art Group, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia Al-Khobar Art Group, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia Five Artists Exhibition, Vienna, Austria General Presidency of Youth Fair, Dammam, Saudi Arabia Jeddah Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Al-Seif Hall, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia Qatif Artists’ Group, King Fhad University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Jeddah Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Al-Janariyah Festival, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Qatif Artists’ Group, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
CATALOGUE DESIGN Anne-Marie Visconti Claudio Fortugno Akim Monet
Side by Side Gallery Akim Monet GmbH Potsdamer Strasse 81b 10785 Berlin - Germany T. +49-30-25 46 09 44 F. +49-30-25 46 09 45 info@sidebysidegallery.com www.sidebysidegallery.com