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SHADI ALZAQZOUQ SHADI ALZAQZOUQ

SHADI ALZAQZOUQ, Palestine (1981)

Bio

Shadi Alzaqzouq is a Palestinian contemporary artist born in 1981 in Benghazi, Libya, to Parents originally from Jaffa, Palestine. Alzaqzouq grew up in Kofra, Libya, and relocated with his family...

Shadi Alzaqzouq is a Palestinian contemporary artist born in 1981 in Benghazi, Libya, to Parents originally from Jaffa, Palestine. Alzaqzouq grew up in Kofra, Libya, and relocated with his family to Gaza, Palestine, following the 1995 Oslo Peace Accords. Shadi studied music at the Palestine Technical Institute in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, after which he taught music at a local primary school for five years. In 2002 he joined an artists' collective known as Shababeek, meaning a Window into art, in Gaza. In 2006 he won the AM Qattan Foundation, Young Palestinian Artist Prize. That same year, the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris offered Alzaqzouq an art residency. In 2007, he enrolled at Université Paris VIII and graduated with a BFA in plastic arts in 2009.

A provocateur at all levels, Alzaqzouq creates arresting vibrant paintings that are an eye-opener to reality. His paintings are hyperreal and surreal in style, most of which are painted with oil on canvas using a fine brush. Coming from a place under siege and continuously at war, his work suggests revolt and dismay. When he moved to Paris, the Israeli government policies obstructed his return to Gaza. As such, issues that pertain to exile, identity, and movement, are central in his work. In his representation, he discusses multiple layers of identities, including popular culture and satire.

Alzaqzouq reflected on the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings. It was inspirational for Alzaqzouq, who linked the Arab spring to a wishful third Palestinian intifada. As such, he created surreal paintings like Rock Me All Night Long featuring protesting young boys with eyeballs popped out. In a controversial series known as The Muslim Punk, Alzaqzouq sheds light on the Islamophobia discourse and the distorted image of Islam as 'uncivilized' and 'violent' promoted in the Western media. He painted women veiled with liberty spikes made of fabric cones, and young men dressed in punk leather jackets with colored Mohawk hairstyle giving the prayer in the streets.

His work caused heated controversy, especially his circular painting, shown in Art Dubai in 2012. It depicts a veiled woman with a bandana on the face holding underwear panties on which the word erhal is written in Arabic, meaning get out, or drive the dictators out. Again al Zaqzouq showed this work in the 2015 Banksy's Dismaland in the UK, which was a full-blown "bemusement park." Knowing that one of the participants was an Israeli artist, Alzaqzouq staged a protest against Israeli war crimes during the show by covering his work with bedsheets. It was a time when he most hit the headlines.

As a symbol of siege and separation, Alzaqzouq presented the apartheid wall in satirical settings with cheerleaders cheering his rivals. Dreaming of return, he imagined himself and his family members as human moles who could pave their way to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem in a large scale painting known as Underground Revolution.


This is a short biography. The full version , along with research, CV and sources will be posted soon. Stay tuned and visit us often or become a member to be notified of our updates.

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CV

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2012

National Clothesline, Artspace , Dubai, UAE

2009

Fragile, La Galerie Talmart, Paris, France

2007

A Simple Dream, Municipality of Magny-les-Hameaux, France
A Simple Dream, Galerie Cite International des Arts, Paris, France

2007-
2005

French Cultural Centers in Gaza, Nablus, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem, Palestine

2006

Red Line, painting and installations (for the Prize for the best young artist), al-Hallajroom, Ramallah, Palestine

2005

Rawabit 2, Gaza Governorate, Palestine
Tafasil, Budapest, Hungary
Installation I am the only guest on my birthday (for the Hasan Hourani Prize, young artist category), hall of the Ottoman Tribunal, Ramallah, Palestine
المركز الثقافي الفرنسي، القنصل الفرنسي في القدس ألا ريني, غزة, Jerusalem, Occupied Palestine
Gaza upside down (in collaboration with the Consulate General of France in Jerusalem), Occupied Palestine
Al-Rihaya, Galerie al Mina

2003

Rawabit, Helm Association for the Safeguarding of Palestinian Heritage, Gaza, Palestine

Selected Group Exhibitions

2017

Printemps de la Palestine, Cri Suspendu, Douarnenez, France
Dessins Perturbateurs, Galerie Metropolis, Paris, France

2016

La Palestine, IMA Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France

2015

Crisis of History #2 - Fight History, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Dismaland, Weston-Super-Mare, UK

2014

Novembre à Vitry, Galerie municipale Jean-Collet, Vitry Sur Seine, France

2013

Politiques, Talmat Gallery, Paris, France
Art o'clock, La Défense, Paris, France

2012

Art Dubai, Dubai, UAE

2010

Creative Palestinian Art, Artsawa, Dubai, UAE

2009

From Gaza to Morlaix, Espace du Roudour, France

2008

Ť Levant ť, 5 guest artists, Galerie Europia, Paris.

2007

Details, Sainte-Anne chapel in Tours, France

2006

For one time, contemporary art troupe Chababik, Galerie al Mina
Nuit blanche, French Cultural Center, Gaza, Palestine

2005

Vide-vite, Galerie al Mina, French Cultural Center / Palestinian Ministry of Culture
Contemporary art exhibition, Galerie al Mina

2003

Exhibition at Multaqa al-Chabab, Sharjah, Dubai
10th Afaq exhibition, Christian Youth Association

1999

Exhibition of graduates of the Christian Youth Association, Gaza, Palestine

Collections

Ramzi & Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon

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Documents
Crisis of History Part 2: Fight History - Strategies of Resistance
Framer Unframed, English, 2015

Exhibition Handout Crisis of History #2

EXPOSITION — INSTALLATION
Galerie Talmart, French, 2009

Exhibion Cataloguern

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Press
ARTIST RESEARCH; SHADI AL ZAQZOUQ
ZPERIDAKIS
zperidakis.com, English, 2015
Artist of the Month
archive.thisweekinpalestine.com, English
Cairo charity art auction to raise funds for Palestinian children
arabnews.com, English, 2021
Driven by injustice: Shadi Alzaqzouq
Ege Yorulmaz
bantmag.com, English
Exposition. De Gaza... au Roudour
letelegramme.fr, French, 2009
Shadi Al Zaqzouq / the spring of art
Aurélien Soucheyre
lejsd.com, English, 2017
Art Dubai keeps strong regional identity
Georgina Adam
original-artworks.com, English
Shadi el Zaqzouq : "je suis palestinien, musulman et punk"
francetvinfo.fr, French, 2013
"Politiques" from Tunis to Paris and beyond
universes.art, French, 2013
Israel protest artist's work stays at Dismaland
Helena Horton
telegraph.co.uk, English, 2015
10 Artists Worth Knowing From Banksy's Dismaland
Gavin Yeung
hypebeast.com, English, 2015
Palestinian Artists At Banksy's Dismaland
Palestine Square
palestine-studies.org, English, 2015
Shadi Al Zaqzouq expose au Cri Suspendu
ouest-france.fr, French, 2017
EXPOSITION Shadi AL ZAQZOUQ du 15 au 29 avril_ au 3, rue Louis Pasteur Douarnenez
hypnature.org, French
معرض "غزة" لشادي الزقزوق: بحث عن النقاء.. وحديث عن هوية مشوّهة
أسماء الغول
al-ayyam.ps, Arabic, 2005
National Clothesline
artinasia.com, English
الفن بين الاعلام والسياسة/ منذر جوابرة
منذر جوابرة
qadita.net, Arabic, 2012
Faceless but not voiceless: Shadi Alzaqzouq at Artspace
Christopher Lord
thenationalnews.com, English, 2012
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Videos
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Exhibitions

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