Bassem Yousri
Egypt
Visual Artist and Filmmaker
Visual Arts,Cinema
Bassem Yousri
Egypt
Visual Artist and Filmmaker
Visual Arts,Cinema
Grantee
Wijhat
Round 01
2022
Recycled Artist in Residency (RAIR)
Destination: Egypt → US
Itinerary: Bassem will participate in the Recycled Artist in Residency (RAIR) program in Philadelphia, USA, in order to carry out a large-scale installation (or several midsize works) using diverse industrial raw materials. The aim is to discover a new aesthetic that engages a certain impromptu or random visual and functional synthesis, the point being not to dwell on detail as long as the solutions serve their intended purpose. The artist’s work will be displayed to the public at the end of his residency. He will also deliver a lecture on his work and exchange expertise with fellow residency participants and meet with other artists and curators in his field.
Itinerary: Bassem will participate in the Recycled Artist in Residency (RAIR) program in Philadelphia, USA, in order to carry out a large-scale installation (or several midsize works) using diverse industrial raw materials. The aim is to discover a new aesthetic that engages a certain impromptu or random visual and functional synthesis, the point being not to dwell on detail as long as the solutions serve their intended purpose. The artist’s work will be displayed to the public at the end of his residency. He will also deliver a lecture on his work and exchange expertise with fellow residency participants and meet with other artists and curators in his field.
Commissioned Artist
RedZone
2021
Dismantling
“I invite the viewer on a tour of my studio situated in the heart of Cairo, specifically the Abdeen neighborhood. I talk about my sources of inspiration. I am always interested in the relationship between the seemingly banal everyday events and the larger socio-political context. Furthermore, the city and our relationship to architecture influence how I think about my installations in space.
I also discuss how I develop a concept. When working on a new artwork, I often build upon a thread that started in a previous one. I follow it, and I create its world. I discuss the philosophy behind making ephemeral installations.
The year 2020 has been an unusual one. Maintaining an art practice with all the anxiety and uncertainty caused by the worldwide lockdown has been extremely challenging. The video shows the effects of this experience on my professional and personal life.”
I also discuss how I develop a concept. When working on a new artwork, I often build upon a thread that started in a previous one. I follow it, and I create its world. I discuss the philosophy behind making ephemeral installations.
The year 2020 has been an unusual one. Maintaining an art practice with all the anxiety and uncertainty caused by the worldwide lockdown has been extremely challenging. The video shows the effects of this experience on my professional and personal life.”
Grantee
Exceptional Grants for Supporting Artists & Writers
2020
Guideposts
The exhibition “Guideposts”
The exhibition of large multimedia signposts that convey messages to the public in the form of instructions or commands that conflict with the confusing outward form of the artworks. The aim is to make the viewer ponder the nature of the relationship between the authoritative entity and its visual manifestations and their impacts on the viewer. The statues are inspired by the artist’s documentary study of the visual clutter that abounds in government institutions in Egypt and the extensions of this phenomenon as manifested in daily life.
The exhibition of large multimedia signposts that convey messages to the public in the form of instructions or commands that conflict with the confusing outward form of the artworks. The aim is to make the viewer ponder the nature of the relationship between the authoritative entity and its visual manifestations and their impacts on the viewer. The statues are inspired by the artist’s documentary study of the visual clutter that abounds in government institutions in Egypt and the extensions of this phenomenon as manifested in daily life.
Grantee
Tajwaal
Round 02
2017
Vermont Studio Center
The grant supports his trip from Egypt to the United States of America for a fellowship residency at the Vermont Studio Center. This is the second residency he was awarded by the organisation, which invites around 50 artists in each round of this programme. During the coming residency, Bassem Yousri will develop two new artistic projects, one of which he started last year, entitled “The Artistic Guide”.