Kuwaiti-Palestinian artist Tarek Al-Ghoussein dies aged 60 in New York

Visual artist, who lived in the UAE, was also a professor of visual arts at New York University Abu Dhabi

Kuwaiti-Palestinian artist Tarek Al-Ghoussein, who has died at the age of 60 in New York, in Abu Dhabi's Warehouse 421 in November 2018. Reem Mohammed / The National

Abu Dhabi Archipelago (Hami Roha Gassar), 2016. Photo: Tarek Al-Ghoussein

Tarek Al-Ghoussein's Abu Dhabi Archipelago – Island Making (2015), shown at the MEI Art Gallery in Washington. Photo: MEI Gallery

Tarek Al-Ghoussein, Abu Dhabi Archipelago, (Marawah), 2015. Photo: Tarek Al-Ghoussein

Abu Dhabi Archipelago (Abu Dhabi), 2018. Photo: Tarek Al-Ghoussein

Abu Dhabi Archipelago, (Ramhan), 2015. Photo: Tarek Al-Ghoussein

Tarek Al-Ghoussein's 'Odysseus' series featured in a 2021 exhibition, 'Between the Sky and the Earth: Contemporary Art from the UAE', in Washington DC. Photo: Tarek Al-Ghoussein

Tarek Al Ghoussein, '(In)Beautification-No.2581' (2012). Photo: courtesy the artist and The Third Line, Dubai

Tarek Al-Ghoussein, Al Sawaber 5003_2015-2017_Digital print_21 x 28 cm. Photo: courtesy the artist and The Third Line

Untitled 4, 2009, From the D II series, Inkjet Print. Photo: courtesy the artist and The Third Line and Taymour Grahne Gallery, New York

Tarek Al-Ghoussein photographed Abu Dhabi's islands for his Odysseus project. This is Abu Dhabi Archipelago (Al Alia) – the first photograph he shot in five months due to the Covid pandemic. Photo: Tarek Al-Ghoussein

Tarek Al-Ghoussein said this is one of his favourite images from his series K Files 735, 2013, which was shown at the Kuwait Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2013. Photo: courtesy the artist and The Third Line

Tarek Al-Ghoussein, Abu Dhabi Archipelago (Gassar 2). Photo: Tarek Al-Ghoussein

Tarek Al-Ghoussein's K Files consists of eight photographs he shot himself inside the stock market, a dilapidated palace, a football field, an old school and beside Kuwait's first oil well with the famous water towers spiking the horizon in the distance. Photo: courtesy the artist and The Third Line

Abu Dhabi Archipelago (Al Habel Al Abyad). Photo: Tarek Al-Ghoussein

Tarek Al-Ghoussein's "Abu Dhabi Archipelago (Salaha Gassar)", part of his Odysseus project to document Abu Dhabi's 215 islands. Here he stands amid nesting cormorants. Photo: Tarek Al-Ghoussein

Kuwaiti-Palestinian artist and academic Tarek Al-Ghoussein has died aged 60 in New York.

The news was announced by Dubai’s Third Line Gallery on Sunday. "It is with a heavy heart that we announce the sudden passing of Tarek Al-Ghoussein yesterday in New York City," reads the statement, posted to Instagram.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. We will deeply miss our friend and artist, may his soul rest in eternal peace."

No cause of death has been announced.

'We're in shock'

New York University Abu Dhabi Arts Centre also released a statement on Twitter. As a professor of visual arts at NYU Abu Dhabi, Al-Ghoussein taught subjects such as photography and documentary photography.

“We're in shock," read the statement. "It’s a huge loss for the arts in the UAE, across the region and the world, but also personally for so many individuals at NYU AD."

Noura Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of Culture and Youth, also paid tribute to the ambitious artist, whose work was firmly rooted in the UAE.

"Our sincerest condolences to his family, loved ones and the NYU Abu Dhabi community,” she said on Instagram.

Barjeel Art Foundation founder, Sultan Al Qassemi, also paid his respects on Twitter.

“Tarek was an accomplished academic and artist, whose work was collected by regional institutions like the Sharjah Art Foundation and global museums like Guggenheim New York," he said.

Who was Tarek Al-Ghoussein?

Born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents, Al-Ghoussein was educated in the US, before settling in the UAE 25 years ago.

“Tarek’s work explored the boundaries between landscape photography, self-portraiture and performance art,” the Third Line statement said.

"Evocative photographs depicting abandoned spaces and objects examined both personal and general associations with the Middle East.

“He captured images of places and objects that would soon cease to exist, preserving the narrative of the spaces and their former inhabitants.

"Often inserting himself into the landscape images, as the ever-present protagonist.”

Odysseus: a legacy of work in Abu Dhabi

For the last seven years, Al-Ghoussein had been working on Odysseus, an epic photographic exhibition where he attempted to visually document all of the 214 islands off the coast of Abu Dhabi.

Al-Ghoussein exhibited images from approximately 30 islands in 2021 at The Third Line, including desolated towns such as Al Mousnoua, located 10 minutes off the main Abu Dhabi coast.

In a review for The National, writer Alexandra Chaves praised Al-Ghoussein for highlighting important issues with Odysseus.

“Through his images, the artist navigates ideas of place and habitation, as well as how we build and deconstruct spaces.

“While the fate of Odysseus remains unclear, the existing works that constitute the series will continue to raise these questions.”