Exhibition
25 October – 6 December 2013
Fabric of A Nation—Deja Vu Series 2
mixed media photography by
Amr Mounib
To see the Flickr Gallery of Images from the show, see below:
Photographer Amr Mounib has deep roots in Egypt and in film, extending back to the first silent films produced in Egypt by his grandfather, Fawzi Mounib. In this, his first solo exhibition at the Jerusalem Fund Gallery Al–Quds he combines painting, collage photography and a touch of surrealism to produce images of an Egypt that lies in his heart. In the face of the present day chaos and uncertainty, the noise, the pollution, the plastic, he creates photographs of real people, real places, overlaid with magical images that illustrate a reality that is in the hearts and dreams of its people.
Meet the Artist
Amr Mounib has been practicing photography since he was 13 years old. Earning his degree in Communications and Visual Media from The American University in Washington D.C. where he won several awards for his work in photography and film and after serving in the US Navy both in the active and reserve forces, Mounib moved to Europe with an unforeseen career in fashion photography for a decade, studying under Foulie Elia. He then returned to Washington DC before retracing his roots in Cairo after 35 years of absence.
Mounib’s family has deep roots in theatre and television that go as far back as the silent film through his grandfather Fawzi Mounib in the Egyptian film industry. His grandmother, Mary Mounib was named Egypt’s “Empress of Comedy” both for her film and theatre fame. She is until this day an icon of humor engraved in the hearts of millions of Egyptians.
Mounib’s father was a pioneer television producer and hosted the first Egyptian interviews and game programs in the early 60s. His background left a great impact in his work and character due to the wealth of media and entertainment engraved in his family’s continuing talent.His primary interest lies in the interaction of light with his subject matter, with a focus in the spatial relationship between man-made and natural objects.
Mounib uses juxtaposition to create a language of shapes and movement, contrasting the fluid nature of natural forms with the geometry of man-made objects. His compositions challenge the viewer to discover a natural light that would cross the terrains of a farmland, the shadow of a peasant’s face, the gesture of a flower-giver, the mundane endeavors of a cow grazing, to shepherd
herding are unveiled in a single snapshot. Growth and physics change the nature of Mounib’s subject moment by moment, and that moment never repeats again. This sense of motion even lends a sense of drama to Mounib’s still life studies where “There is always a hint of something happening.”
(Text excerpted from Contemporary Practices.)
