Man-made, detail, 2006.
The Echo, 2004.
Insecure (series of 11), 2006.
exhibition
Moataz Nasr

September – November 2006

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 himself as a truly international artist.

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