Young Collectors Auction - exhibit-E

QaswraHAFEZ1973Lot 063Signed, Dated150 X 150 cm. Spray Paint Stencil on Shomagh 2011Estimate (US$ 3,000 - 4,000)Born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1973, Qaswra Hafez has been experimenting withconceptual art since 2006. Prior to embarking on an artistic career that has run parallelto his involvement in the Middle Eastern cultural scene in various capacities, Hafez studiedbusiness in the US between 1991 and 1994, and later trained as an interior architect.As the son of the late Hisham Ali Hafez, a prominent Saudi publisher of over a dozenleading newspapers and magazines including Asharq Al-Aswat and Al Majalla, Hafezfound inspiration in the intellectually driven environment that comprised his immediatesurroundings early on. As a poet and writer who also held several diplomatic positions, hisfather played a significant role in shaping the critical views that now exist as an essentialcomponent of his art.Working with a variety of mediums and found objects, Hafez often creates works thatpossess underlying elements of social critique, addressing the modern state of the MiddleEast by utilizing symbols and/or imagery that are loaded with cultural meaning. Yet at alltimes there is a particular duality to these conceptual pieces, as images and signifiers arenever one-dimensional and seemingly contrasting details are juxtaposed then merged aspotent visuals.