> النص بالعربية



Moataz Nasr

Egyptian Artist

The exhibition at Darat al Funun is a testimony to Nasr’s versatility and creativity in expression. Painter, video maker and installation artist Nasr shows four works using an array of materials.

In his video art film "The Echo", the artist juxtaposes a scene from Yousef Chahine’s 1969 film” Al-Ard” with a scene shot in a bustling, present day coffee shop. The two sequences are projected facing one another, echoing each other, highlighting how nothing has changed, what could be said in 1933 and 1968, remains valid in 2003; the political and social situation has remained stagnant over the past 70 years. One is left with the resonance of what Abou Swelem says and what the storyteller in the Caireen coffee shop repeats, “we are living in words nothing but words”.

In "Father & Son", Nasr’s treatment of masculinity is distinctly more intimate, where in few minutes Nasr lets us inside his lifetime relationship with his father.

The series "Insecure" – consisting of large photographic prints made with special sun printing technique- develops a central theme in the poetics of the artist’s human insecurity and instability of our existence.

Another series "Fiat Nasr " – consisting of six photographic prints of the first car to be made in Egypt. At that time, it was a great leap in Egyptian economy. The Fiat Nasr is no longer made. Today you find many of them broken with airless tires, dumped on the streets.

Finally, through "Man Made", a new installation of wall sculptures and photographic diptychs, Nasr shifts to a political dimension, stressing the human inability to effectively relate to the political and state system.

With previous international exhibitions - including the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Hayward Gallery in London and Mori Art Museum in Tokyo- and award wining participations in International Biennales, Moataz Nasr has established him as a truly international artist.



 



Moataz Nasr - Curriculum Vitae

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1961. Lives and works in Cairo.

Solo Exhibitions

2006     - Darat al Funun, The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman
            - Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy
2005     - The Echo, Touchstones Art Gallery, Rochdale, UK
2004     - Falaki Gallery, The American University in Cairo
            - Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2003     - Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
            - Franco Riccardo Gallery, Napoli, Italy
2002     - Franco Riccardo Gallery, Napoli, Italy
            - "Espace-La Bodega" Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2001     - Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2000     - Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
            - Egyptian Cultural Center in Paris, France
1999     - Al Ahram House Gallery, London, UK
            - Akhnaton Gallery, Centre of Fine Art, Cairo, Egypt

Group Exhibitions

2006     - For Lebanon, Gallery Ibda'a, Cairo, Egypt
            - ECHIGO-TSUMARI Triennale, Japan
            - AFRICA REMIX, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
            - Ghosts of Self and State, Monash University Museum of Art,
              Melbourne, Australia
            - CCA 94th Annual Conference, CCA – College Art
              Association, Boston, USA
2005     - Forming with Light, Palace of Art, Cairo, Egypt
            - Bamako Biennale for African Photography, Mali
            - Yokohama Triennale, Japan
            - AFRICA REMIX, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
            - “Mediterranean Encounters”, Sicily, Italy  
            - 4x4, Artists Space, Broadway, New York, USA
            - Imagining the Book, Alexandria Library, Egypt
            - Sharjah Biennale, U.A.E.
            - Loose Your Identity, Kunstverein Kreis, Ludwigsburg,
              Germany
            - Museum of Contemporary Art, Bahea, Salvador, Brazil
            - French Cultural Center, Damascus, Syria
            - AFRICA REMIX, Hayward Gallery, London, UK
2004     - Museo del Cristallo, Colle, Italy
            - La Forma delle Nuvole, 'Arte all Arte 10', curated by Achille
              Bonto Oliva and - James Putnam, Montalcino, San
              Gimignano, Poggibonsi, Colle di Val D'Elsa, - Siena,
              Buonconvento, Italy
            - Sneeze 80x80, Athens, Greece
            - Castello di Trani, Bari, Italy
            - Le Opera e I giorni, Triennale, Certosa di Padula, Italy
            - 25th Sao Paolo Biennale, Brazil
            - Milly Pozzi Arte Contemporanea, Como, Italy
            - Bosane Biennale, South Korea
            - AFRIKA REMIX, Museum Kunst Palast, Dusseldorf, Germany
            - Dak'art Biennale, Dakar, Senegal
2003     - 'Miart', Milano Art Fair, Milan, Italy
            - Bologna Art Fair, Bologna, Italy
            - Espacio Arte Contemporaneo Camargo, Spain
            - Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
            - Disorientation, House of World Cultures, Berlin, Germany
            - Bologna Fair, Bologna, Italy
2002     - Unplugged, Arts Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria
            - Video Marathon, Chisinau, Moldova
            - Galleria Civica d'Arte Contemporanea Premio Suzzara, Italy
            - Dakar Biennale, Senegal
            - You Can Touch, Espace Karim Francis, Cairo, Egypt
2001     - Intresecus-Extrincus, Studio Casoli, Milan, Italy
            - Ambiente: Le Area Non Protette, Palazzo Pretorio Sala del
              Consiglio Communale, Sandrio, Italy
            - Cairo Modern Art Exhibition in Denhag, Holland
            - 8th International Cairo Biennale, Opera Arts Palace, Egypt
            - Participated with Martin McInally in Al Nitaq Festival,
              Downtown, Cairo, Egypt
2000     - The Palm Tree, Mashrabia Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
            - …with Egyptian and Italian artists, Gezira Art Center, Cairo
            - Prepared & participated in Jerusalem art exhibition,
              Hanager, Opera House, Cairo, Egypt
            - La Bodega, Cairo, Egypt
            - Cairo International Biennale for Ceramics, Cairo
            - Nitaq Festival of Art, Downtown, Cairo, Egypt
1999     - 27th National Exhibition for Fine Arts, Opera House, Cairo
            - Small Artworks at the Center of Art Cairo, Egypt
1998     - 26th National Exhibition for Fine Arts, Akhnton Center, Cairo
            - The First Show for Artists over 35 years and honored,
              Museum of Fine Arts (Hussein Sobhy), Alexandria, Egypt
            - 4th Cairo International Biennale for Ceramics, Center of Art,
              Cairo, Egypt
            - The Days of Kom Ghorab, Cairo, Hanager Gallery, Egypt
1997     - 25th National Exhibition for Fine Arts, Center of Art, Cairo
            - Heliorama exhibition at the French Cultural Center, Cairo
1996     - 24th National Exhibition for Fine Arts, Center of Art, Cairo
1995     - 7th Salon of Youth, Center of Art, Cairo, Egypt


Public Art

2001     Permanent installation at La Bodega lounge, Cairo, Egypt
2000     Permanent installation at Diwan bookstore in Zamalek, Cairo

Workshops

2002     - Close Up Workshop, 3 Egyptian artists with 3 Swedish
              artists, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
            - Workshop The Open Studio in Townhouse Gallery Cairo
              (10 Egyptian and 10 foreign artists)
2000     Participated in the Fashion Design workshop at the University
            of Applied Arts, ending in a number of exhibition in the Gezira
            Arts Center, Townhouse, Zeinab Khatoun and the Goethe
            Institute in Cairo, Egypt

Others

2000     - Member of Jury Board at the 15th Art Festival Sondrio, Italy
            - Commissary of the Egyptian Contemporary Art exhibition in
              Nicosia, Cyprus
1996/98  Participated in Kom Ghorab Project in Old Cairo, Egypt

Awards

2005     Grand Prize, Sharjah Biennale, U.A.E
2004     Ministry of Culture Prize, Dak’art Biennale, Dakar, Senegal
2002     The Biennale Prize, Dakar Biennale, Senegal
2001     Grand Prize, 8th International Cairo Biennale. Egypt
1997     Prize of Painting, Heliorama exhibition, French Cultural
            Center, Cairo, Egypt
1995     Third Prize, 7th Salon of Youth, Center of Art, Cairo, Egypt

 

 

See also:

> Moataz Nasr
-
 The Echo - video art
-
 Father & Son - video art
-
 Insecure - photography
-
 Fiat Nasr - photography
-
 Man Made - installation
Moataz Nasr or the Evidence of Things not Seen, article by Simon Njami

> Painting by Tamara Nouri
> Photography by Juman Nimri


> Existential Introspection - Ica Wahbeh - The Jordan Times

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