Youssef Abdelké was born in Qamishli, north-east of Syria in 1951. At the age of 15, he moved to Damascus with his family where he studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts and graduated in 1976. Abdelké was arrested for nearly two years in 1978 because of his political activism. He then moved to France, “attracted by anything that might satisfy his burning thoughts of painting.” In Paris, he graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux- Arts in 1986 and later from Paris XIII with a PhD in Fine Arts in 1989. He lived in exile in Paris for nearly 25 years.

In 2005, Abdelké managed to return safely to Damascus and organize a large exhibition there. In 2010, his Syrian passport was confiscated and he was arrested again for five weeks in 2013.

The works of Youssef Abdelké are in a large number of museums and institutions, including The British Museum in London, UK, the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, France, The National Museum of Kuwait and the Amman Museum of Modern Art in Jordan.

The artist currently lives and works in Damascus.

Youssef Abdelke is represented by Galerie Tanit Beirut/Munich.