Born in 1963, in Cairo, Egypt, Khaled Hafez was a medical doctor before he dropped medicine to follow a career in the visual arts. While studying medicine, he attended evening classes in fine arts...
KHALED HAFEZ, Egypt (1963)
Bio
Born in 1963, in Cairo, Egypt, Khaled Hafez was a medical doctor before he dropped medicine to follow a career in the visual arts. While studying medicine, he attended evening classes in fine arts at the Cairo School of Fine Arts in the eighties. Hafez earned a medical degree in 1987 and M.Sc. as a medical specialist in 1992. He later obtained an MFA in new media and digital arts from Transart Institute in New York, USA, and Danube University Krems in Austria. An interdisciplinary artist, his practice spans across painting, photography, film making, and installation. Hafez is a Fulbright Fellow and Rockefeller Fellow.
Growing up in Egypt in the mid-seventies in a society that was reshaped by globalization and consumerism left a significant mark on the artist. Besides, the country has been subjected to substantial economic and political upheavals since then. As such, Hafez examines the erosion of cultural values and traces the evolution of social trends in the recent history of Egypt. He critiques people who have embraced materialistic and individualistic values associated with Western cultures. In his multifaceted body of work, Hafez hints to factors central in the formation of identity and cultural development.
Mythology, fiction, and sarcasm are central to Hafez's work. His paintings, mixed-media works, and collage-like videos straddle perceived barriers between East and West. In his body of work, Hafez hints at the core of contemporary Egyptian identity. Creating composite images, Hafez mixes international pop culture figures with ancient Egyptian Gods, of whom God Anubis, with his Jackal's head, is a star. Moreover, the artist reflects on Egypt's rich ethnic and religious panorama through overlapping symbolic images. Onto his collaged canvases, Hafez introduces photos of contemporary soap operas, movie icons, top models, along with corrupt politicians. Hafez adopts old yellowed paper in his work either naturally aged with time or artificially by excessive solar exposure or actual burning. It is symbolic of a mummified past and a deteriorating present. Hafez's assemblage hints to 'cultural recycling,' as the artist puts it - elements of the past that resurface and inform the present.
Khaled Hafez currently lives and works in Cairo, Egypt.
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CV
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2018
Realms of the Hyperreal, Nome Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2015
A Temple for Extended Days, Ayyam Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Codes of Hermes, Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, Texas, United States of America
2013
Moving Forward by The Day, Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020
20 in 2020: Part 2: 2011 to 2020 International Focus, Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, Texas, United States of America
ONLINE Nome: A Lexion, Nome Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2018
Un œil ouvert sur le monde Arabe, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
2017
Evidentiary Realism, Nome Gallery, Berlin, Germany
The 57thVenice International Art Biennale – La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
The 2ndAsuncion International Biennale – II Bienal Internacional de Asunción,Paraguay
2015
The 56thVenice International Art Biennale– La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
The 3rdMardin International Biennial, Mardin, Turkey
The 6thMoscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia
2014
The 15thFotofest Biennale, Houston, Texas, United States of America
2013
The Shadows Took Shape, The Studio Museum, Harlem, New York, United States of America
The 55thVenice International Art Biennale - La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
2012
The 41stRotterdam International Film Festival, Rotterdam, Netherlands
The 11thHavana Biennale – The Biennial de la Habana, Havana, Cuba
2011
Selections from the Samawi Collection, Ayyam Gallery, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThe 9thBamako Photo Biennale, Bamako, Mali
The 8thMercosur Biennale, Porto Alegre, Brazil
2010
The 12thInternational Cairo Biennale, Cairo, Egypt
Manifesta 8, Manifesta Foundation, Murcia, Spain
2009
The 2ndThessaloniki Biennale, Thessaloniki, Greece
2008
The 3rdGuangzhou Triennale, Guangzhou, China
2007
The 7thSharjah International Biennale, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
2006
The 1stSingapore International Biennale, Singapore
The 7thDakar International Biennale, Dakar, Senegal
2004
The 6thDakar International Biennale, Dakar, Senegal
Publications
2012
Khaled Hafez, Egyptian Hyperreal Pop: The Rise of Hybrid Vernacular
Awards and Honors
2011
The Foundation Blachere Video Prize at the 9thBamako Photo Biennale, Mali
2004
The Francophonie Prize at the 6thDakar Biennale, Senegal
Collections
Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon
Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
The British Museum, London, United Kingdom
The Saatchi Collection, London, United Kingdom
MuHKa Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Belgium
Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art, Sarajevo, Bosnia
Mali National Museum, Bamako, Mali
State Museum of Art, Thessaloniki, Greece
Horcynus Orca Foundation, Messina, Italy
KHALED HAFEZ Artwork
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