For his solo show at Gypsum Gallery, Egyptian artist Basim Magdy presents a photography series of subliminal landscapes, produced from film that has been altered with household chemicals. Magdy shot the photographs in various locations and times and then treated them with chemicals, spurring hazy, mythical colors upon the images.
He also exhibits a short film titled Time Laughs Back at You Like a Sunken Ship (2012). Shot on super 8 and transferred to HD, the film examines how people construct their memories, and how memories subtly unfold and fade into each other. The film exists without narration, and is accompanied by a soundtrack, composed by Magdy.
The two work on display muse on the idea of time as a multidimensional space, and reflect Magdy`s preoccupation with stretching the physical and aesthetic limits of analogue film.
Basim Magdy (b. 1977) is an artist based in Basel, Switzerland and Cairo, Egypt. His current exhibitions include La Biennale de Montreal, Canada; MUMA – Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne and a solo presentation at Art in General, New York. His work has been featured in numerous solo and group shows including the SeMA Biennial MediaCity, Seoul, South Korea, 2014; the 13th Istanbul Biennial, Turkey, 2013; Biennale Jogja XII, Indonesia, 2013; the Sharjah Biennial 11, UAE, 2013; La Triennale, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2012 and Transmediale, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, 2012. He was shortlisted for the second edition of the Future Generation Art Prize, Pinchuk Art Centre in 2012 and is the winner of Abraaj Art Prize, Dubai, 2014.
[This video was produced by Medrar TV and is featured in partnership with Jadaliyya Culture]