Exhibition of works by German-Egyptian artist Susan Hefuna on view at Pi Artworks
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, October 11, 2024


Exhibition of works by German-Egyptian artist Susan Hefuna on view at Pi Artworks
Susan Hefuna, Beyond, 2014, Fabric, 148 x 50 cm / each.



ISTANBUL.- German-Egyptian artist Susan Hefuna works and exhibits internationally across a wide range of media, including drawing, sculpture, and installation as well as video, photography and performance. Coinciding with a major solo show organized by the Sharjah Art Foundation, Hefuna’s second solo show with Pi Artworks Istanbul focuses on her textile works - the first time they have been exhibited together in a collection. Together, they explore the visual and cultural signifiers that have come to embody her unique inter-cultural identity.

Susan Hefuna has been creating her striking graffiti-like textile works since 2001. Encompassing costumes, installations and textile wall pieces, she draws on a variety of influences and traditions from around the world and, in doing so, has developed her own unique artistic language. Her textile works are informed by the aesthetics of Africa and Japan, the traditional craft of American quilts and storytelling, with their iconic layered cloth patchworks, as well as the Egyptian heritage of tent making, or Khayamiya, of Old Cairo. Using Egyptian cotton, khayamiyas are often elaborately patterned and feature colourful appliqué designs to brighten up the interior of tents.

Hefuna also works on Egyptian cotton, creating connected dots and lines, structures familiar from her multilayered drawings, and evocative of the architectural structure of her well known large-scale mashrabiya screens, which also feature extensively in her body of work. In textile diptychs such as Here Now or in the triptych Beyond Nothing, these connected white dots and lines appear like constellations, a stellar network stretching out against a night-time sky of the black cotton, a galaxy of words, shapes and colours. She also incorporates Arabic and English letters and words, stitching them onto the fabric to create new appliqué designs, either transcribing existing words and phrases, or creating her own words. Sometimes words and letters metamorphose, turning into new images that are barely readable. At other times, the colourful collages of word and text play with multiple layers of meaning. Some refer to popular culture, as evident in Anta Omri, which refers to legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kalthoum’s songs, while others, including Sabr Gamil (‘Patience is Beautiful’), draw on traditional sayings in Arabic, English and German culture. This mixture of letters, structures, and words triggers varying emotions and feelings in the viewer, depending on their own cultural and social background and personal understanding of the many inter-cultural allusions within Hefuna’s work.

BeYond NoThing, at Pi Artworks Istanbul from 5 April – 3 May, marks the first time that a group of Hefuna’s textile works are exhibited by themselves, and embody the poetic way in which the artist examines the meaning of words beyond words, and their ability to trigger layers of memories and emotions of the observer.

Susan Hefuna creates drawings, multimedia installations, sculptures, and installation as well as video, photography and performances works. The synergy of her Egyptian-German duel identity enriches her practice. Solo exhibitions in 2014 include a major show organized by the Sharjah Art Foundation at Bait Al Serkal, Sharjah; Osthaus Museum, Hagen, Germany; Pi Artworks in both Istanbul and London; and Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago. Recent solo exhibitions include Vantages at the MAD Museum in New York City (2012-13), Susan Hefuna at Rhona Hoffman Gallery in Chicago (2012); and I Love Egypt – A Temporary Learning Camp, a collaborative commission by The Serpentine Gallery, London and Townhouse, Cairo, 2011. Group exhibitions include Safar/Voyage at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver (2013) and Encounter at the Katara Arts Center in Doha (2012-13) as well as the Sydney Biennale in Australia (2012; Drawing at the 20th century at MoMA, NYC among others. Hefuna was awarded the 2013 Contemporary Drawing Prize of the Daniel & Florence Guerlain Art Foundation in Paris. She has also had her work exhibited at Fare Mondi, in both the Arsenale and Giardini at the Venice Biennale, Italy, in 2009; the Seville Biennial, Spain, 2008 and the Ninth Sharjah Biennial, UAE in 2007. Public collections include the Papko Collection, Istanbul, Turkey; Huma Kabakci Collection, Istanbul, Turkey; LACMA, Los Angeles, USA; MoMA, New York, USA; Farjam Collection, Dubai, UAE; The Louvre, Paris, France; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; British Museum, London, UK; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; HH Sheika Salama Collection, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Sheikha Manal Collection, Abu Dhabi; Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE; Groupe Lhoist Collection, Limelette, Belgium; Burger Collection, Zurich & Hong Kong and Foundation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France. Publications about Susan Hefuna include Pars Pro Toto Volumes I-III with editor Hans Ulrich Obrist. Volume III was recently presented at Art Dubai 2014.










Today's News

April 22, 2014

Andy Warhol masterpiece leads Christie's Sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art

Smithsonian scientist Torsten Dikow discovers ancient species of assassin fly

Queen Elizabeth portrait by British photographer David Bailey CBE released to mark 88th birthday

Exhibition of recent work by German artist Thomas Ruff opens at Gagosian Beverly Hills

Mexico bids farewell to adopted son, Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Phillips announces highlights from forthcoming April London Design Auction

New documentary on Sol LeWitt to have U.S. theatrical premiere at Film Forum

Yale School of Art presents works by Turner Prize nominee Lynette Yiadom-Boakye

Lunar-landed artifacts from moonwalker Alan Bean set for lift-off at Heritage Auctions

The Andy Warhol Museum announces collection rehang in honor of the museum's 30th anniversary

34th annual AIPAD Photography Show New York boasts strong sales and high praise

Bonhams in Los Angeles selling largest ruby crystal ever offered at auction in gems sale

Smithsonian exhibition featuring American artist William H. Johnson opens at Phoenix Art Museum

Valérie Belin's second solo show in Belgium opens at the Galerie Nathalie Obadia

Greenhill announces Lynn Sanders-Bustle, Ph.D. as new Director of Programs

Important painting by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri to be offered at Clars Auction Gallery

"Jessica Jackson Hutchins: Unicorn" on view at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

Debut of first-ever series of publications and films on premier art patrons of Asia

20th Century Design Auction to feature objects from the Cabella Design Collection

Art Stage Singapore announces dates for 2015

Exhibition of works by German-Egyptian artist Susan Hefuna on view at Pi Artworks




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful