Youssef Abdelke

Youssef Abdelke is a Syrian visual artist, he works in drawing, and printmaking. He is one of Syria’s leading artists, and the husband of Syrian filmmaker Hala Al-Abdallah Yacoub.

Biography

Abdelke attended Damascus University and graduated in 1976. He was a political prisoner for two years before being forced into exile to France in the late 1970s. He graduated from the École Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts; and from Paris XIII with a PhD in Fine Arts.
On July 19, 2013, the Syrian government forces arrested him after he signed a declaration calling for the departure of President Bashar al-Assad.

Reception

Abdelke's artworks can be found in public collections, including the British Museum, Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, the Amman Museum of Modern Art, and the National Museum of Kuwait.