MOHAMED HUSSEIN

"Above the City I" Painting 33" x 47" inch by Mohamed Hussein

2023

Born 1989, Mohamed Hussein is a Fayoum native whose semi-abstract landscape and urban vistas are captured with a cultured palette and compositional method that belies his young age. Hussein is inspired by the natural and metropolitan environments he has found himself surrounded by since birth, with Fayoum existing somewhere comfortably in between both of these divergent worlds, steeped in nature's bounties but almost threatening to become enveloped by the sprawling Cairo metropolis which it lies within close proximity to. Hussein uses a method of texturing which attributes his paintings a certain quality of depth and age, as he works in a multitude of hairline threads and lines that appear as natural cracks and creases in the paint. Hussein's art is one that is predominantly landscape based, and his compositional method attributes the settings he captures a palpable living and organic character. Whether modest mud huts, city skyscrapers or the informal settlements and shanty towns that are so prevalent across the greater Cairo area, he infuses them with a rustic and beautified appeal. One of the preeminent characteristics of Hussein's painting is that he manages, with an unassuming yet cultured palette and composition, to transform the otherwise mundane or unappealing into something aesthetically pleasing in a way that transfixes our attention. His palette is tasteful in its choice and application as it is primarily conceived in subdued earthen tones; brown ochres, burnt and bright yellows, rusty maroons and sage greens to name but a few. They combine to create scenes that appear as much abstract as they are relatable and realistic in their makeup. Hussein's burgeoning career in art has seen him participate in a handful of local art expositions, most importantly the Youth Salon in three editions in the years 2020, 2022 and 2023, as well as consecutive years of the Festival for Arab Youth in its second, third and fourth editions. He has also notably received a full scholarship grant from the Ministry of Culture despite not undergoing formal artistic training, a testament to his commendable potential and promise of his ongoing journey is art.