Description
Oil on Papyrus and carved wood, Bassem Yousri (Algeria, born 1980 raised in Egypt)
“A Window”, 2008
64 x 90 cm
Signed ‘Bassem (front)
Provenance: direct from artist
b. 1980 in Algeria (Egyptian). Lives and works in Cairo, Egypt.
Yousri received his MFA in painting, drawing and sculpture from Tyler School of Art – Temple University in Philadelphia in 2009, and his BFA in painting from the School of Fine Arts – Helwan U. in Cairo in 2003.
Yousri was the recipient of a Fulbright Art’s Grant in 2006, and an AFAC grant in 2012. Additionally, he was awarded several artist-in-residence fellowships by several institutions: Vermont Studio Center in USA, 2013 & 2018; Kultur Kontakt Austria, 2017; Arte East in New York USA, 2016; Sharjah Art Foundation in the UAE, 2016; Kansas State University in USA, 2011; and Kala Art Institute in California USA, 2010.
Since 2000, Yousri has been showing his work across Egypt, the Arab world, USA, and Europe. In addition to six solo shows between Egypt and USA, Yousri participated in a number of group exhibitions. Some of the most prominent venues where Yousri showed his work are Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE; Mathaf: the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar; l’Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, France; the State Museum of Egyptian Art in Munich, Germany; and IVAM (Institut Valencià d’Art Modern) in Valencia; Spain.
Yousri’s multidisciplinary practice ranges between creating mixed media installations in art galleries, art in public space, and experimental videos and documentary films. Inspired by the narrative quality of Ancient Egyptian murals, Yousri’s work has a strong documentary aspect. He believes humor and sarcasm could be a universal language that speaks to audiences across the world. While his work is often a commentary on contemporary Egyptian social and political situation, it is still concerned with the larger frame of the human condition. Moreover, Yousri’s work often investigates other issues such as cross-cultural dialogue, stereotypes and taboos, mass culture and the relationship between art and audience.
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