LAST CHANCE Mohamed Yousif and Maggie Otieno: Solace in Soil

A duo exhibition for Emirati artist Mohamed Yousif and Kenyan sculptor Maggie Otieno that “celebrates the grounded connections between the practices of the two artists and the cross-cultural exchange between the Middle East and Africa”. Or as curator Shamma Al Mheiri puts it, “Maggie Otieno and Dr Mohamed Yousif share leitmotifs of expressing generational sentiments and experiences through tangible expressions. Perhaps distinct in visual identities, Otieno and Dr Yousif manifest connections deeper than the aesthetic portrayals in a state of continual solace …” The gallery is equally effusive: “This exhibition fosters a symbiotic exchange between the artists and their artistic practices, intimately linked to their earthy foundations, enabling their work to converse and showcase the interconnectedness between the regions”.

Mohamed Yousif is regarded as a pioneer of UAE sculpture and is one of the founders of the Emirates Fine Art Society. His 3D work is typically carefully crafted and delicate wooden sculptures, many woven out of palm tree fronds handpicked in the UAE desert. He has featured in several exhibitions, including The National Pavilion of the UAE at the 2015 and 2017 Venice Biennales.

Maggie Otieno characteristically works with long abstract figures comprised of distressed railway sleepers, originally from India and used to lay the ‘iron snake’ railway line in Kenya at the end of the 19th century – carrying within them stories of travellers, labourers and communities. “Through her deft manipulation of form and texture, she endeavours to imbue her sculptures with a sense of temporal continuity, affording them a palpable resonance with the viewer’s own lived experiences”.