Tarek Al-Ghoussein was born in Kuwait, his parents were Palestinian exiles who were unable to visit their native home. His father, Talat Al-Ghoussein, was a journalist, editor and a diplomat who served as the Kuwait ambassador to the United States in the 1960s.
He received his bachelor's degree in photography from New York University and completed his master's degree in Fine Arts from University of New Mexico.
He moves between abstraction and the explicit conditions found in certain places. His family moved a lot during his childhood between Kuwait, United States, Morocco and Japan. He held several positions during his career, worked as a photojournalist, taught photography at the American University of Sharjah and is currently a professor at New York University branch in Abu Dhabi.
1995 Zwemmers Fine Photographs, London, UK Tarek's work is collected by several museums and foundations worldwide such as Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Royal Museum of Photography, Copenhagen.
Darat Al-Funun, Amman, Jordan. Mathaf Museum, Doha, Qatar. Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE.
British Museum, London, UK. Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX and Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE.
1995 Zwemmers Fine Photographs, London, UK 2000 Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE 2003 Randolph Street Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand 2004 Spectra Art Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark 2004 Noorderlicht International Photography Exhibition, The Netherlands 2005 Sharjah International Biennial, Sharjah, UAE 2006 Political Realities, Heidelberg Museum, Heidelberg, Germany 2007 Art in Public Spaces, Light Boxes, Muscat, Oman 2008 Wonder, Singapore Biennale, Singapore 2009 In Absentia, Al Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art, Jerusalem, Palestine 2011 Emirati Expressions, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE 2013 National Pavilion of Kuwait, 55th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy 2014 K Files, Taymour Grahne Gallery, New York, USA.
