The  Forbidden  by  Fatenn  Mostafa      Silent  agitators,  Yasser  Nabaiel  and  Weaam  El  Masry  ques9on  the  chains  imposed  by  the  (visible  and  invisible)  authori9es  and  the  constant  obliga9on  for  a  seal  of  approval.  Mainly  government  (human   laws),   religion   (divine   laws)   and   society   (customs)   form   these   ‘authori9es’.   Any   act  contrary  is  seen  as  either  illegal,  sinful  or  taboo.      

Yasser   Nabaiel   employs   controversial   androgynous   figures   to   create   layers   of   meanings   to  describe   the   state   of   Arabs   today.   For   Nabaiel,   we   are   confined,   imprisoned   and   suffoca9ng  from  innumerable  chains.  This  suffering,  visualized  at  9mes  in  9ed  hands  or  legs,  is  reminiscent  of   Jesus   and   is   accentuated  by   the   spreading   of   stones   –   ac9ng   as   setbacks  making   the   road  ahead  difficult  and  painful.  In  four  out  of  five  works,  the  ar9st  hides  the  head  of  the  main  figure,  indica9ng  that  we  no  longer  exist  but  as  bodies,  as  numbers  or  seals.      

In  her  second  exhibi9on  at  ArtTalks,  Weaam  El  Masry  is  showing  seven  new  works,  in  which  four  are  aspired  by  the  unforgeQable  love  scene  culmina9ng  in  murder  in  ‘Season  of  Migra4on  to  the  North’  by   the   late  Tayeb  Salih,   the   founding   father  of  Sudanese   literature.  With  her   signature  drawing   technique   of   absolute   though   nervous   control   of   line,   El   Masry   plays   on   the  metaphorical  meaning  of  the  forbidden  scene  at  the  heart  of  the  book.  She  poses  whether  it  is  possible  for  love  to  free  us  from  society’s  chains  and  accentuates  the  narrator’s  most  important  discovery   that   "All  my   life   I   had   not   chosen,   had   not   decided.   Now   I   am  making   a   decision."  Perhaps  that  is  what  we  all  should  do.    

The  works  presented   in   the  exhibi9on  by  both  ar9sts  are   inspired  by   ‘The  Prophet’  wriQen   in  1923   by   the   late   Lebanese-­‐born   Gibran   Khalil   Gibran   and   ‘Season   of  Migra4on   to   the   North’  wriQen  in  1966  by  the  late  Sudanese  thinker  Tayeb  Salih.    

   Both  books  offer  an  enduring  appeal  to  tackle  all  that  is  forbidden.  Both  books  were  praised  and  banned.   ‘The  Prophet’  was  temporary  banned  in  Egypt   in  1999  and  again   in  2012  arguing  that  the   drawing   on   the   cover   could   be   seen   as   represen9ng   Islam’s   Prophet   Mohamed.   Tayeb  Salih’s  book  on  the  other  hand  was  banned  for  30  years  following  its  publica9on  in  Egypt  and  in  Sudan  and  denounced  as  decadent  and  insul9ng  of  religion.          Yasser   Nabaiel   was   born   in   Kafr   el   Sheikh,   Egypt,   in   1970.   He   lives   and   works   in   Lausanne,  Switzerland.  He  holds  a  BFA  and  an  MFA  in  Pain9ng  and  Drawing  from  the  Fine  Arts  University  in  Cairo.  He  has  par9cipated   in  several  Youth  Salons  and  General  Salons   through  the  Ministry  of  Culture  in  Egypt,  besides  exhibi9ng  in  many  European  ci9es.  He  received  the  highest  honors  in  oil  pain9ng  for  the  5  consecu9ve  years  at  the  faculty.      Born   in   1987,   Weaam   el   Masry   is   an   Egyp9an   Cairo-­‐based   mul9-­‐award   winning   visual   ar9st  whose  prac9ce  has   included  video  art,  photography,  drawing  and  pain9ng.  She  holds  a  PhD  in  Media  Arts   from   the   Faculty  of  Applied  Arts,  Helwan  University   and  has  won  over   17   awards  across  her  ar9s9c  career  from  different  ins9tu9ons  in  Egypt,  notably  the  2002  Youth  Salon,  the  second  prize   in   the  2003  Rateb  Sedik   (Atelier  du  Caire)  and   the  Encouragement  Award   in   the  Port  Said  Biennale  in  2003.  She  has  par9cipated  in  over  40  exhibi9ons  locally  and  interna9onally  and  has  aQended  several  residencies,  the  most  recent  being  in  Columbia,  where  she  resided  in  an   all   women   jail.   Her   works   are   in   the   collec9on   of   the   Egyp9an  Museum   for  Modern   Art,  Bibliotheca  Alexandrina  and  the  Egyp9an  Ministry  of  Culture.      

Yasser  Nabaiel  Forbidden  Knowledge,  2015 oil on canvas | 200 x 150 cm YN - 101

 

Yasser  Nabaiel  For  My  World  Is  As  Forbidden  As  It  Is  Fragile,  2015  oil on canvas | 200 x 150 cm YN - 102

 

Yasser  Nabaiel  Seal  Of  Approval,  2015  oil on canvas | 200 x 150 cm YN - 103

 

Yasser  Nabaiel  The  Tree  Of  Knowledge  Of  Good  And  Evil,  2015  oil on canvas | 200 x 150 cm YN - 104

 

Yasser  Nabaiel  Stolen  Waters  Are  Sweet,  2015  acrylic on paper | 150 x 140 cm YN - 105

Weaam  El  Masry  Slave  or  God?  2015    mixed media on canvas | 100 x 100 cm WEM - 201

Weaam  El  Masry  With  Me  Were  Two  Girls,  2015    mixed media on canvas | 100 x 100 cm WEM - 202

 

Weaam  El  Masry  Red,  Blue  and  Violet  Lights,  2015  mixed media on canvas | 100 x 100 cm WEM - 203

Weaam  El  Masry  Her  Eyes  Were  The  Color  of  Cairo,  2015   mixed media on canvas | 120 x 80 cm WEM - 204

 

Weaam  El  Masry  Voice  In  The  Darkness,  2015    mixed media on canvas | 100 x 130 cm WEM - 205

Weaam  El  Masry  Spring-­‐well  of  Sorrow,  2015    mixed media on canvas | 150 x 150 cm WEM - 206

Weaam  El  Masry  A  Whole  Harem,  2015  mixed media on canvas | 150 x 150 cm LE 55,000 USD 7,300 WEM - 207

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