AB Gallery opens the new season with two exceptional solo exhibitions. We show current works by the renowned Austrian artist Tanja Boukal (*1976, Vienna) in “Was tun, wenn’s brennt” from the past exhibition “Political Correctness” in the Museum der Moderne Salzburg. The second solo exhibition is dedicated to the young Egyptian artist Mina Nasr (*1938, Cairo). In “Movement” we show a selection of Nasr's new, two meter-high black and white drawings. The works were created this year in the Rote Fabrik Zurich when the artist participated in the “Artist in Residence” program of Pro Helvetia.

In their works, Boukal and Nasr transcend boundaries and deal with social and cultural questions and backgrounds. Perspectives cross in these exhibitions. Boukal discusses the “Vendetta”, uprisings around the globe, in her work. Nasr's work on the other hand documents his experiences with Swiss culture and lifestyle. During his stay in Zurich the artist observed people on the street, analysed their behaviours, their way of standing and moving, their closeness and distance compared to ways of life in Egypt. The drawings express his experiences and emotions: “In Switzerland I feel as though there was an infinite amount of free space. I feel ‘grand’, I can move unrestricted in this freedom. My drawings have a fairy-tale character, as though they were created by a giant in wonderland. This is exactly what I see and feel.”

31 year-old artist Mina Nasr (*1983, lives and works in Cairo) studied applied arts at the Helwan University Cairo. From the early stages of his artistic career the artist was interested in graphics, 3D applications and outsized drawings. In his work Nasr often combines the media drawing, audio and video. With a hint of sarcasm he documents the social and political circumstances and their repercussions on his revolution-stricken home country. His drawings are often done life-sized and directly on a wall. His most recent mural “Egypt Selection Part 2”, in which he depicts a colourful selection of different cultures living in Egypt in a queue to the Egyptian election. The mural was shared over 1000 times on Facebook. Mina Nasr has, among other cities and countries, exhibited in Cairo, London, Beijing, Brussels, Spain and Greece.

-AB Gallery

Image: © Mina Nasr
Courtesy of the artist and AB Gallery