Mahmoud Khaled:
Painter on a Study Trip
April - May 2014
Gypsum Gallery, Cairo
In his latest solo exhibition at Gypsum Gallery, Alexandrian artist Mahmoud Khaled presents a selection of photography, sculpture, painting, text, video, and installation works inspired by an eponymous nineteenth-century painting at the Museum of Fine Arts in Alexandria. This painting made the artist reflect on his classical training as a painter at the Fine Arts Academy in Alexandria and its complicated relationship to the language of contemporary art.
Khaled, thus, compiled six key terms that recur in art history books to define art practice: process, material, detail, source, exercise and composition, and used them as the basis for six new works shown in Painter on a Study Trip. The exhibition is presented from the perspective of a semi-fictitious student/artist on a field trip to Antoniades Garden, a landmark Alexandrian park modeled as a miniature version of Versailles Palace, and used as a standard location for outdoor assignments at local art academies. Painter on a Study Trip also includes an earlier work by Khaled entitled Memorial to Failure (2013), which is comprised of a video and a sculpture. The work is based on an actual studio visit between the artist and renowned Italian thinker Franco "Bifo" Berardi.
In this video, Khaled offered visitors a tour of the show, reflecting on his inspirations and the process through which he developed the work.
This video was produced as part of the arts documentation workshop organized by Medrar TV in collaboration with Vernissage TV. The workshop was made possible with the support of the Swiss Arts Council, Pro Helvetia.
[This video is produced by Medrar TV and is featured in partnership with Jadaliyya Culture.]
Editor`s note: a review of Mahmoud Khaled`s exhibition appeared on Jadaliyya earlier this month and can be found here.