ADHAM FARAMAWY: LEGEND II
The Aubin Gallery, London
13th January – 24th February 2010
Launching a new initiative to nurture and promote some of the best young artists coming out of Britain today, the Aubin Gallery will kick off the New Year with a solo exhibition of sculpture, screen prints and digital video by Adham Faramawy.
In this dynamic multimedia show, Faramawy considers the concept of ‘legends’ and examines the multi-interpretable nature of narratives. Legends are typically passed on by oral tradition and become localised geographically and historically, thereby imparting morals that are open to many interpretations.
Faramawy’s work is often centred on performance, inspired by the fantastical and the miraculous. Citing influences such as Kenneth Anger, Charles Atlas and Hype Williams, his camerawork and editing reconstructs the conventions of visual narrative in digital media, questioning linear storytelling and often using text to subvert the way the eye is trained to function by television and film. By employing such an array of techniques, Faramawy stages an attempt to challenge traditional western filmic codes, investigating the way we communicate and present ourselves to each other. You can watch a clip of one of Faramawy’s video works, Shagaret El Dor, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKaITCgW9gk.
The artist’s use of reflective surfaces in the presentation of his photographic works and figurative sculptures evokes a sense of self-reflexivity, as the viewer themselves becomes part of the visual narrative. Faramawy’s work explores the functions of the eye and how we construe visual stimuli. These works take direction from ancient Egyptian and Hellenistic Greek works and reinterpret them via the codes and materials of Modernism. By installing these photographic works and figurative sculptures alongside his video works Faramawy creates an environment that generates a discussion about storytelling, representation and the role of the figure in contemporary works.
Faramawy explains, " My mode of image making is resolutely representational. I express ideas concerning transmissions of knowledge demonstrating fluid identities. Folk stories and early religious mythology are the basis of visual allegory delineating the burden of aesthetic lineage. An interest in animism, the evil eye, Sufi theology, ritual and medieval takes on representation, have lead to the adoption of a lexicon of images and a fascination with the averted gaze."
During the exhibition Faramawy will fully utilise the Aubin Gallery as an interdisciplinary platform. He will host two evenings in the Aubin Cinema which will serve to compliment his exploration of legends. For the first, Faramawy will collaborate with Susu Laroche and Reba Maybury to present Legend: Dance in the service of narrative and for the second Alex Williams, a cultural theorist and writer for Wire Magazine will present The Legend of Michael Jackson, unravelling the pop phenomenon in a talk accompanied by a specially commissioned soundtrack and edit of music videos by Adham Faramawy and Not Abel.
Saturday 22nd January at 4pm:
Adham Faramawy, Susu Laroche and Reba Maybury present: Legend: Dance in the service of narrative
Saturday 19th February at 4pm:
Alex Williams: The Legend of Michael Jackson
Both evenings are in association with Shoreditch House and Aubin and Wills.
Adham Faramawy
Adham Faramawy is a London-based artist of Egyptian descent. He is affiliated with the !WOWOW! group and graduated from The Slade School of Fine Art in 2004. Faramawy has worked with all artists affiliated with the !WOWOW! group, as well as musicians Bishi and Susanne Oberbeck of No Bra and Thomas Hein of These New Puritans, and performance artists such as Theo Adams and Millie Brown. He has been actively involved with URA Gallery, exhibiting his work as part of the 10th Istanbul Biennial and collaborating on the URA ZINE publication since 2007. URA Gallery is currently working on publishing Faramawy's first book. Writers such as William Alderwick, Ed Lehan and Princess Julia have contributed. Faramawy has exhibited his work most notably at Anna Kustera Gallery, New York, MAK Museum, Vienna and The Black Mariah Gallery in Cork. In January 2008, Faramawy performed his piece "I Can Do Impossible Things" at Tate Britain.
The Aubin Gallery
The Aubin Gallery is a collaborative venture with Aubin & Wills and leading British artist and curator Stuart Semple. Semple directs an innovative program of guest curators, new art talent and in-house art projects to create a unique inter-disciplinary platform. The Aubin Gallery is housed on the top floor of Aubin & Wills' first destination store; a multi-storey, converted Post-war office building. The 7,500 sq. ft. concept space also includes The Aubin Cinema which is run in collaboration with private members' club Shoreditch House to contribute a new social hot spot to East London's Redchurch Street. The gallery focuses on nurturing the careers of new British-based talent through an innovative interdisciplinary exhibition program. The gallery further demonstrates its support for new talent through the recently established Aubin Collection, which will feature a selection of works by artists exhibiting at the gallery. Monographs and limited edition prints will also be published by The Aubin Gallery and made widely available through the extensive network of Aubin and Wills outlets nationwide.
The Aubin Gallery
64-66 Redchurch Street
Shoreditch, London E2 7DP
www.aubingallery.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adham_Faramawy
http://susularoche.com
Image Credits: Torso (Screenprint), Adham Faramawy, 2010
