Basim Magdy—the Deutsche Bank’s 2016 “”Artist of the Year””—has already presented his multifaceted oeuvre in numerous international group exhibitions. These include the biennales in Sharjah and Istanbul in 2013, the Biennale de Montréal in 2014, as well as the exhibitions ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, and ‘Ocean of Images: New Photography’ (2015) at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Magdy’s films, photographs and drawings focus on structures of seeing, remembering and archiving. His works often call to mind surreal narratives full of cryptic humour. The artist uses his psychedelically-coloured pictures and montages to scrutinise collective utopias and express doubt about dogmas and ideologies. At the same time, he appeals to the viewer’s power of imagination and causes alternative realities and designs for society to shine out.
The bilingual publication features texts by Regine Basha, Lauren Cornell, Britta Färber, Friedhelm Hütte and Omar Kholeif.
About the Editor
The Deutsche Bank KunstHalle, formerly known as Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin, is a renowned art gallery and exhibition space for international contemporary art. The museum is the fruit of a unique joint venture between a bank and a museum, initiated by the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation established in 1937 and the Deutsche Bank. Active in its cultural commitment and with over 50,000 works of art, the Deutsche Bank, which was founded in 1870, owns the largest company art collection in the world.
About the Publisher
Based in Berlin, Germany, and established in 1945, Hatje Cantz is one of the leading publishing houses for art, photography, design and architecture books with a focus on contemporary art.
