Al Markhiya Gallery has launched its new exhibition, which includes works by Qatari artist Yousef Ahmed and the late Egyptian artist Hazem El-Mestekawy. It features 15 paintings by Yousef Ahmed and 12 works by Hazem El-Mestekawy, and is being held at the gallery’s headquarters in “Fire Station: Artist in Residence”.
The exhibition features works dating back to 2013, which show a striking presence of earthy colors and textures inspired by the Qatari environment, reflecting the artist’s direct connection to the place, specifically the desert as a visual and spiritual source.
The exhibition also includes works from 2016, based on collage techniques using light paper, in which the Arabic letter stands out as a dominant visual element, intertwined with geometric compositions and color blocks.
During the exhibition, artist Yousef Ahmed presents works he created between 2024 and 2025, employing more liberated techniques in shaping the canvas surface using raised paper pulp. This gives the works a tactile dimension, enhancing the sense of the material's physical presence within the artistic space. Yousef Ahmed's artistic journey is based on rediscovering and visually and technically adapting Qatari palm fronds within the artwork, whether through paper made from the fronds, paper pulp, or collage techniques.
This material is not merely an execution material, but a “living visual entity” that gives it multiple paths for experimentation, and its richness lies in its ability to constantly transform from paper to a pictorial surface, and from a traditional material to a contemporary formative structure.
Hazem El-Mestekawy's works showcase artistic compositions that invite reflection on spatial relationships and the ways in which architecture, engineering, and design influence human perception and interaction, and are based on the intersection of architecture, sculpture, and optical illusion.
