Sherin Guirguis
Passages//Toroq
October 30–December 5, 2013
The Third Line
Al Quoz 3, Dubai, UAE
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The Third Line is pleased to present Sherin Guirguis’ first solo show in the region. Sherin investigates post-colonial themes of political, cultural and social dogma and feminist activism within the framework of the Egyptian diaspora, both in the public and private spheres. Delving deep into the building blocks of culture and identity, specifically from the approach of a diaspora artist, she presents her interpretation of what it means to be defined by the transformative events of the moment.
For Passages//Toroq, Sherin presents works in two parallel series that address concerns of identity formation, highlighted predominantly in the wake of the mercurial Arab Springs. The title of the exhibition refers to both the literary and historical passages that are quoted in the work as well as the social passageways, or toroq, forged by the revolution. Crucial to its people, the revolution defies the political, social and cultural standards that have been imposed by and grown out of colonization. Sherin references historical developments in Egypt in order to have a clearer insight to the present.
About Sherin Guirguis
Sherin Guirguis (b. 1974, Egypt) lives and works in Los Angeles. Sherin’s work has been included in the 2010 California Biennial, at the Orange County Museum of Art; Rogue Wave 2013 at LA Louver Gallery, Venice, California and SouthwestNet, a two-person exhibition, at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona. Solo projects include Qasr El Shouq at LAXART, Los Angeles, and Duwamah at Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco. Selected group exhibitions include Quadruple Consciousness at Vox Populi, Philadelphia; Under The Knife at the Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, California; Las Vegas Diaspora at the Las Vegas Art Museum and the Laguna Beach Art Museum; Quickening at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson and The Dreams Stuff is Made Of, Art Frankfurt, Germany. She has also participated a series of public programs in conjunction with the 11th Cairo Biennale in 2008. In 2012, she was awarded several prestigious grants and fellowships including the California Community Foundation Visual Artist Fellowship, the Artists’ Resources for Completion Grant and the Investing in Artists Grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation.
Project Space – Raja’a Khalid, Southeast to Armageddon
The Third Line welcomes back Raja’a Khalid in the Project Space with her exhibit Southeast to Armageddon—a small selection of images from the Middle East chapter of her ongoing ‘Minor Histories Archive’ project. With an intention to question the objectivity of certain public documents, this body of work focuses on how the discovery of Middle Eastern oil in the 1930s was depicted in popular Western press at the time, and the American perception of Gulf oil companies in the forties and fifties.
About Raja’a Khalid
Raja’a Khalid (b. 1984, Jeddah) received her MFA in Fine Art from Cornell University in 2013, where she was also the recipient of the Cornell Council for the Arts grant in 2012. Her studio practice is centered on ‘Minor Histories Archive,’ her never-ending Arcades Project-style collection of found documents in which she explores the contemporary histories of the Middle East and South Asia. She has participated in group shows in New York and Dubai including the White Box Gallery, New York; the Gary Snyder Project Space, New York; the Traffic Gallery, Dubai; and returns for a second time to The Third Line’s Project Space with Southeast to Armageddon. Raja’a lives and works in Dubai.
About The Third Line
The Third Line is a Dubai-based art gallery that represents contemporary Middle Eastern artists locally, regionally and internationally. It also hosts non-profit, alternative programs to increase interest and dialogue in the region. The Third Line also publishes books by associated artists.
Represented artists include Abbas Akhavan, Ala Ebtekar, Amir H. Fallah, Arwa Abouon, Babak Golkar, Ebtisam Abdulaziz, Farhad Moshiri, Fouad Elkoury, Golnaz Fathi, Hassan Hajjaj, Hayv Kahraman, Huda Lutfi, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Laleh Khorramian, Lamya Gargash, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Pouran Jinchi, Rana Begum, Sahand Hesamiyan, Sherin Guirguis, Shirin Aliabadi, Slavs and Tatars, Sophia Al-Maria, Tarek Al-Ghoussein and Youssef Nabil.
Media contact
Saira Ansari, PR & Media Coordinator: saira [at] thethirdline.com