Hussein Madi (Lebanese, b. 1938)

Hussein Madi's work is characterised by his fusion of European and Islamic influences. Drawing inspiration from the stylised figuration of Western artists such as Matisse and Picasso, Madi has developed his artistic language in both figurative and abstract forms, his latter speciality combining the principles of divine harmony that inform the geometric abstraction of Islamic art. In this figurative work, Untitled (2012) Madi captures the movement of whirling dervishes, reducing the two figures to an archetype with expressive yet simplified lines to encapsulate the rise and fall of the donned white robes in the ancient Sufi dance ritual. Between 1973-1986, Madi taught sculpture and painting in Lebanon and chaired the Lebanese Association of Painters and Sculptors between 1982-1992. His works are held in public collections internationally and his work shown in over fifty exhibitions since 1965 including the Venice Biennale, 2003; the British Museum, London, 1990; L’Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, 1989 and Tokyo’s Ueno Museum, 1972.