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GRAFFITI IS ART?
Detail of Practice Graffiti Wall Hall of Fame, Luzern – Emmenbrücke
GRAFFITI IS ART?
AMMAR ABO BAKR
MARC ERWIN BABEJ
SHAMSIA HASSANI
27 APRIL – 31 MAY 2014
AT AB GALLERY LUCERNE
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For some it is a mess, vandalism in the urban space, soiling of bridges, under-passes, walls or trains, for some it is the big-gest art movement of world history. We are talking about Graffiti, Street Art or Urban Art, the contemporary generic term for these art forms. The genre polarizes people. Yet it reached worldwide recognition, not least thanks to artists such as Keith Haring, Blek le Rat or Banksy. Today it is established on the international art market, Graffiti and Street Art is hip. The recent revolts in Egypt and the Ukraine demonstrated that Street Art in par-ticular plays a big role as a tool for protest and freedom of speech.
AB Gallery dedicates the upcoming exhibition titled Graffiti is ART? to the phe-nomenon of urban art movements. We show works by three international artists, including murals by the established Street Artist Ammar Abo Bakr from Egypt, photographies from the “Chernogirls NYC”-series by German-Ameri-can photo artist Marc Erwin Babej as well as imaginary graffiti by the Afghan artist Sham-sia Hassani. In this exhibition we want to draw attention to the diversity of these art forms: Graffiti does not equal Street Art.
Graffiti has its roots in writing or spraying names, the term is etymologically derived from Greek (graphein means to write), whereas Street Art focuses mainly on the motif and interaction with people.
Today the stylistic elements of both movements often merge, making it impossi-ble to clearly separate the two. In the exhibi-tion the visitors have the opportunity to get an idea of the different styles.
Ammar Abo Bakr's (*1980, Luxor) work could be labelled art in the shape of news. During the revolution the artist re-located his studio to the street to be able to directly communicate with the Egyptian peo-ple. Bakr became known mainly for his murals in the well-known Mohammed Mahmoud Street, that leads directly to the Tahier square in Cairo. The murals show scenes of martyr-dom, depicting the victims of the revolution as winged heroes. Today his Street Art paintings grace walls in many cities such as Cairo, Lux-or, Alexandria, Beirut, Frankfurt and Berlin.
In his series “Chernogirls Episode II: NYC” the photographic artist Marc Erwin Babej (*1970, Frankfurt) shows models from the former Soviet Union in front of scenes of decay – on the streets or the underground of New York. Babej, who is a big devotee of the alienation effect as practiced by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, places glamorous women in unexpected contexts. The NYC se-ries is a continuation of the series “Cherno-girls Episode I: Minsk – Chernobyl”, in which Babej placed models from Belarus and Ukraine into their historical context.
GRAFFITI IS ART?04
The photographs document beauty and ele-gance uneasily coexisting with the decay of the locations in which they were shot. The pictures shown in the exhibition reflect the lives of Chernogirls in New York, while at the same time reflecting on the Street Art and graffiti of New York in the 70s and 80s.
Shamsia Hassani (*1988, Iran) is Afghanistan's first female Graffiti artist. Her works often show female figures in bright blue burqas. With her mix of Graffiti and Street Art the young artist aims to reach women in Kabul in particular to inspire them to fight against the suppression of women in Afghan-istan. Until 2010 Hassani primarily painted on canvas, but at a workshop with the British Graffiti artist Chu at the University of Kabul she discovered her passion for the spray can. Ever since Hassani has tried to work in the public space, a rather dangerous endeavour. For this reason the artist came up with “Dreaming Art”, a new form of Graffiti. She takes photos of well-known locations and later uses Photoshop to spray and paint on them. Eight of her photographic works will be shown in the exhibition “Graffiti is ART?”.
The works come from the collection of the NPO “Terres des Femmes” in Bern. In June 2013 the organisation made it possible for the artist to stay in Switzerland as an Artist in Residence and participate in the annual campaign “Voix des Femmes”.
During this two-week event, the artist led four workshops with young people. She has ex-hibited at the Rote Fabrik in Zurich and at the Hôtel de Ville in Geneva.
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Für die einen sind es Schmierereien, Vandalismus im urbanen Raum, Beschmutzung von Brücken, Unterführungen, Hauswänden oder Zügen, für die anderen ist es die grösste Kunstbewegung der Weltgeschichte. Die Rede ist von Graffiti, Street Art oder Urban Art, der heutige Oberbegriff dieser Kunstrichtungen. Das Genre polarisiert. Dennoch erlangte es, nicht zuletzt dank Künstlern wie Keith Haring, Blek le Rat oder Bansky, weltweit Anerkennung und etablierte sich auf dem internationalen Kunstmarkt. Graffiti und Street Art ist aktuell. Das zeigen auch die jüngsten Revolten in Ägypten und der Ukraine, in denen insbesondere die Street Art eine wichtige Rolle als Werkzeug des Protests und der freien Meinungsäusserung spielte.
AB Gallery widmet die kommende Ausstellung mit dem Titel Graffiti is ART? dem Phänomen der urbanen Kunstrichtung. Wir zeigen aktuelle Werke von drei internationalen Künstlern, darunter Wandarbeiten des etablierten Street Artist Ammar Abo Bakr aus Ägypten, Fotografien der «Chernogirls NYC» Serie des deutschamerikanischen Fotokünstlers Marc Erwin Babej sowie imaginäre Graffiti der afghanischen Sprayerin Shamsia Hassani. Des Weiteren möchten wir in der Ausstellung auf die Diversität der Kunstrichtungen aufmerksam machen – denn: Graffiti ist nicht gleich Street Art. Während es beim Graffiti ursprünglich um das Schreiben bzw. das Sprayen von Namen geht, der Begriff leitet sich ethymologisch von dem griechischen Wort (graphein bedeutet schreiben) ab, steht bei der Street Art vermehrt das Bild und die Interaktion mit
den Menschen im Vordergrund. Die Stilelemente beider Richtungen vermischen sich heute häufig, so dass oftmals keine klare Trennlinie mehr gezogen werden kann. In der Ausstellung hat der Besucher die Möglichkeit sich ein Bild der verschiedenen Stilrichtungen zu machen.
Ammar Abo Bakrs (*1980, Luxor) Werke können mit Kunst als Nachrichtenform überschrieben werden. Während der Revolution verlegte der Künstler sein Atelier auf die Strasse, um in direkter Interaktion mit den Menschen des Landes zu sprechen. Bekannt wurde Bakr vor allem durch seine Mauerbilder in der bekannter Mohammed Mahmoud Street in Kairo, die direkt zum Tahier Platz führt. Auf seinen Märtyergemälden auf der Wand stellte er die in der Revolution gestorbenen Helden mit Engelsflügeln dar. Heute schmücken seine Street Art Bilder Mauern in vielen Städten wie in Kairo, Luxor, Alexandria, Beirut, Frankfurt und Berlin.
Der Fotokünstler Marc Erwin Babej (*1970, Frankfurt) zeigt in seiner Serie «Chernogirls Episode II: NYC» Models aus der ehemaligen Sowjetunion vor verfallenen Kulissen, vor Mauern, auf Strassen oder im Underground des Big Apple.
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Babej, ein grosser Anhänger des Verfremdungseffekts des deutschen Dramatikers Bertolt Brechts, stellt die schönen Frauen in einen völlig anderen Kontext, als der Betrachter es erwartet. Die NYC Serie ist die Fortsetzung der Serie «Chernogirls Episode I: Minsk – Chernobyl», in der Babej Models aus der ersten postsowjetischen Generation in den Kontext ihrer Geschichte stellte. Es sind Fotografien die Schönheit, Eleganz mit dem Verfall und der Geschichte der Plätze dokumentieren, an denen sie aufgenommen wurden. So dokumentieren die in der Ausstellung gezeigten Arbeiten einerseits das Leben der Chernogirls in New York, und gleichzeitig die Geschichte der Street Art und des Graffiti in New York in den 70er und 80er Jahren.
Shamsia Hassani (*1988, Iran) ist die erste Sprayerin Afghanistans. Oftmals zieren ihre Werke Frauengestalten in leuchtend blauen Burkas. Mit ihrer Mischung aus Graffiti und Street Art versucht die junge Künstlerin vor allem die Frauen in Kabul anzu sprechen und sie zu motivieren, gegen die Unterdrückung der Frau in Afghanistan anzukämpfen. Bis 2010 malte Hassani vorwiegend auf Leinwand. Während eines Workshops mit dem britischen Graffiti Künstler Chu an der Universität Kabul entdeckte die Künstlerin ihre Leidenschaft für die Spraydose. Seither versucht die Künstlerin im öffentlichen Raum zu arbeiten, was mit einigen Gefahren verbunden ist.
Aus diesem Grund hat Hassani die «Dreaming Art», eine neue Form der GraffitiKunst erfunden, indem sie Fotos von bekannten Plätzen macht und diese später auf ihrem Computer per Photoshop imaginär besprayt und bemalt. In der Ausstellung «Graffiti is Art?» werden acht Fotoarbeiten dieser PhantasieGraffiti zu sehen sein. Die Werke stammen aus der Sammlung der NPO «Terre des Femmes» in Bern. Die Organisation ermöglichte der Künstlerin im Juni 2013 einen Aufenthalt als Artist in Residence in der Schweiz sowie die Teilnahme an der alljährlichen Kampagne «Voix des Femmes». Im Rahmen dieser zweiwöchigen Veranstaltung führte die Künstlerin vier Workshops mit Jugendlichen durch. Ihre Werke wurden in der Roten Fabrik in Zürich sowie im Hôtel de Ville in Genf ausgestellt.
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“Street Art became a new information medium in Egypt. It is the enemy of traditional media, which fails to tell us the truth. I often remind people: It's not art. It's information!” Ammar Abo Bakr
Ammar Abo Bakr’s passion to edu-cate and communicate through art has taken his work from the atelier to the public space; his graffiti and murals are as much about his own artistic expression as they are generating and contributing to a larger dialogue with the public.
Abo Bakr’s revolutionary street art has cased walls in Cairo, Luxor, Frankfurt, Berlin, Amsterdam and Brussels, journaling the Egyptian Revolution’s many turning points, as well as themes about Coptic and Islamic culture, folk art and Egyptology. He became most famous for his mural on Mohammed Mahmoud Street leading to Cairo’s Tahrir Square that honors those who have lost their lives in ongoing clashes with the security state, giving them brightly colored angel wings in a sign of respect as mourning mothers look on amid Egyptian folk art motifs. Together with his fellow artists, Abo Bakr launched the “No Walls” graffiti campaign in March of this year where he used a trompe l’oiel to artistically transform concrete barriers erected by Egypt’s Interior Ministry into visual expressions of hope and life. The work’s symbiosis with its environ-ment fools the passerby into believing there’s actually no barricade at all!
Abo Bakr’s incessant drive to learn, preserve and create drove the then young lecturer at Luxor’s Faculty of Fine Arts on a quest to study the cultural heritage of Upper Egypt in 2003, even bringing him to live along-side the Sufi teachers themselves. A desire to preserve this rich artistic tradition prompted Abo Bakr, together with a group of fellow art-ists and a professor, to found the Mahrosa As-sociation for Preserving Heritage and Modern Art, named after the village of Mahrosa where the artists acquired a house they reconstruct-ed to serve as a center for educational work-shops and exhibitions featuring local artists. The group would later acquire a second house for similar happenings in New Gurna designed by Hassan Fathy, father of sustaina-ble architecture in the Middle East.
In addition to his street art and efforts to preserve cultural heritage Abo Bakr has also worked as a draftsman with an Egyptian-Ger-man archaeological team since 2006. The ex-perience has provided him with a wide back-ground in Egyptology and an ability to use its symbols in his murals to educate the wider public about its historic past. He’s also direct-ed three documentary movies about the ex-cavations.
AMMAR ABO BAKR/USA
AMMAR ABO BAKR Mural Painting, 2013
AMMAR ABO BAKR Mural Painting, 2013
AMMAR ABO BAKR Mural Painting, 2013
AMMAR ABO BAKR Mural Painting, Back to (the) Square, Helsinki, 2014
AMMAR ABO BAKR Mural Painting, Back to (the) Square, Helsinki, 2014
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Ammar Abo Bakr. The Egyptian Street Art artist was born in Luxor, Egypt, in 1980. He studied Fine Arts and from 2004 Egyptology in Luxor. After his studies he went on to teach art at the University of Luxor. He is, among other things, the founder of the Mahrosa Association for Preserving Heritage and Modern Art. Abo Bakr has been working as a consultant and supervisor at the Luxor International Studio since 2008. His works are shown at important public spaces in Beirut, Egypt,Germany and the Netherlands.
Ammar Abo Bakr. Der ägyptische Street Art Künstler wurde 1980 in Luxor, Ägypten geboren. Er studierte dort bildende Kunst und ab 2004 Ägyptologie. Im Anschluss an seine Studien lehrte er als Dozent Kunst an der Universität in Luxor. Er ist unter anderem Begründer der Mahrosa Association for Preserving Heritage and Modern Art. Seit 2008 arbeitet Abo Bakr als Berater und Supervisor im Luxor International Studio. Seine Arbeiten fin den sich an berühmten öffentlich Plätzen in Ägypten, Beirut, Deutschland sowie in den Niederlanden.
© Barbara Walzer
ABOUT THE ARTIST/ ÜBER DEN KÜNSTLER
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“I want to encourage the observer to think critically. But in order to reflect on some-thing, you have to deliberately create a dis-tance to the event. I purposely photographed my models in places such as Brooklyn, China-town or in front of old graffitied walls, to achieve that alienation effect.” Marc Erwin Babej
Marc Erwin Babej – Chernogirls EpisodeChernogirls Episode II finds our heroines a world away from their motherland, in New York City and Miami. Set in the winter of 2013 – 14, the Chernogirls are now strangers in a strange land, in search of adventure and opportunity.
Some look to settle in America; others are just here for “the season” – already sche duled to travel on to Paris, Milan or Hong Kong. For all of them, “home” has become a relative term: they are from the former USSR and in culture capitals, but no longer of any place in particu-lar. In an earlier age, Soviet media would have categorized them as rootless cosmopolitans. They are educated, polyglots; refined and world-wise beyond their years. But their ticket out was paid in an altogether different cur-rency: a Faustian bargain with their unearned, perishable yet highly-prized appearance in the balance. To a global fashion cult that apotheosizes images of statuesque yet elfin young women with wide-set eyes, our Cherno-girls epitomize a sublime and unapproachable beauty.
Becoming idols has not ben without consequence: the Chernogirls have become detached from – and, in the process, perhaps transcended – their physical form. Like a Greek chorus, they are onstage not as characters, but as commentators on a plot that takes place around them, but doesn’t involve them.
A Mercury ProductionCast (in order of appearance)
Olena “Lena” Mandryk – HerselfNatalia Zenina – HerselfOlga Alexandrovskaia – HerselfAgnieszka “Agnes” Artych – HerselfAnastasia “Nastya” K. – HerselfOlga Markoch – HerselfOlena Lysenko – HerselfJanina Scheuer – Herselfand introducing: Tor Boswick – ZeusDirection, Script, Photography – Marc Erwin BabejAssistant Photography, Editing – Alex VanderheydenPrinting – David AdamsonAssistant Production – Natalya Rudakova
MARC ERWINBABEJ/GERMANY
MARC ERWIN BABEJ Ladies Liberty, 2014Archival pigment print, 91,5 x 70 cm, Ed. 3/5
MARC ERWIN BABEJ Chico Pls Stop, 2014Archival pigment print, 70 x 91,5 cm, Ed. 3/8
MARC ERWIN BABEJ Crime Scene, 2014Archival pigment print, 70 x 91,5 cm, Ed. 3/5
MARC ERWIN BABEJ Power Plant, 2014Archival pigment print, 70 x 91,5 cm, Ed. 3/5
MARC ERWIN BABEJ Windblown, 2014Archival pigment print, 70 x 91,5 cm, Ed. 3/5
MARC ERWIN BABEJ Street Artist, 2014Archival pigment print, 70 x 91,5 cm, Ed. 3/5
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The photographic artist Marc Erwin Babej was born in Frankfurt, Germany, the son of immigrants from communist Czecho-slovakia in 1970. He works exclusively in black-and-white, turning his colour-blindness into an advantage. Babej first studied history (A.B.) at Brown University and then Journalism (M.Sc.) at Columbia University. He began his career as one of the youngest reporters in the history of Forbes, and also wrote for the arts sections of Corriere della Serra, Die Zeit, Die Welt-woche and The Guardian. Moving in the inter-play between social sciences, mass psychol-ogy and the media, Babej's works are inspired by movies of the 1930s and 40s, specifically by Jean Renoir, Yasujiro Ozu and Orson Welles.
Der Fotokünstler Marc Erwin Babej wurde 1970 in Frankfurt als Sohn von Emigranten aus der kommunistischen Tschechoslowakei geboren. Er arbeitet ausschliesslich mit der schwarzweiss Fotografie, in der sich seine Farbenblindheit als Vorteil auswirkt. Babej studierte an der Brown University Geschichte (A.B.) sowie in Folge an der Columbia Universität Journalismus (M.Sc). Er began seine Laufbahn als jüngster Reporter in der Geschichte von Forbes und schrieb gleichzeitig für die Feuilletons des Corriere della Serra, Die Zeit, Die Weltwoche und The Guardian. Des Weiteren arbeitet er als KunstKolumnist für Der Spiegel und American Photo.
Babejs Werke orientieren sich am Film der 1930er und 40er Jahre – insbesondere an Jean Renoir, Yasujiro Ozu und Orson Welles – und bewegen sich im Spannungsfeld der Sozialwissenschaften, Massen psychologie und Medien.
ABOUT THE ARTIST/ ÜBER DEN KÜNSTLER
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“I used to paint with oil colours on canvas, but this type of painting reaches very few. Street Art speaks to the common man, the people.” Shamsia Hassani
In my graffiti works I like to paint women with burqas in modern style. I want to talk about their life, to find a way to remove them from darkness, to open their mind, to bring some positive change, trying to remove all bad memories of war from everybodys mind, cov-ering my sad city with happy colour, with the colour of freedom. I like to say: “Freedom does not mean to remove burqas, Freedom means to have peace. Because of the prob-lematic situation in my country, I sometimes can not spray graffitis on public walls. It is to dangerous. So I created a new style. I take picture of roads and walls and I create my graffitis on walls with Photoshop or I paint graffitti pictures with acrylic and oil. I call these works Dream of Graffiti. They are my own creation in the world of graffiti and I al-ways tell myself: “Yeah, Shamisa, you can do Graffiti”
SHAMSIA HASSANI/AFGHANISTAN
“This is my new work. It stands for the very bad situation in Afghanistan. Be-cause of the constant bombings… my country is going to die…” Shamsia Hassani
SHAMSIA HASSANI In my mind, 2014 Acrylic on canvas, 80 x 62 cm
SHAMSIA HASSANI Dream of Graffiti, 2013Photograph on aluminium plate, 50 x 66 cm
SHAMSIA HASSANI Dream of Graffiti, 2013Photograph on aluminium plate, 60 x 152,5 cm
SHAMSIA HASSANI Dream of Graffiti, 2013Photograph on aluminium plate, 60 x 80 cm, Detail view
SHAMSIA HASSANI Dream of Graffiti, 2013Photograph on aluminium plate, 50 x 66 cm
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Ommolbanin (Shamsia) Hassani. The graffiti artist was born to Afghan parents in Iran in 1988. Her family moved to Kabul in 2005. Today Hassani teaches Fine Art at the University of Kabul. She was among the Top 10 of the 2nd Afghan Contemporary Art Prize in 2009. Her work has since been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Ger-many, Switzerland, Australia, India, Vietnam and other countries. Hassani is also a co-founder of the Berang Art Organisation in Kabul. She came to Switzerland as an Artist in Residence of the NPO “Terre des Femmes” Bern in 2013. www.terre-des-femmes.ch
Ommolbanin (Shamsia) Hassani. Die Graffiti Künstlerin wurde 1988 im Iran als Tochter Afghanischer Eltern geboren. 2005 siedelte sie mit ihrer Familie nach Kabul um. Heute lehrt Hassani als Dozentin für bildene Kunst an der Universität Kabul. 2009 kam die Künstlerin unter die Top 10 des 2nd Afghan Contemporay Art Prize. Seither sind ihre Werke international in zahlreichen Einzel – und Gruppenausstellungen vertreten, u.a. in Deutschland, Schweiz, Australien, Indien oder Vietnam. Des Weiteren ist Hassani Mitbegründerin der Berang Arts Organization in Kabul. Im Rahmen eines Artist in Residence Programms der Nichtregierungsorganisation «Terre des Femmes», Bern kam die Künstlerin 2013 für einen Aufenthalt in die Schweiz.www.terre-des-femmes.ch
ABOUT THE ARTIST/ ÜBER DIE KÜNSTLERIN
IMPRESSUMEditorial: Simone ToellnerDesign: FelderVogel, Kommunikation in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft AG, Luzern
Phone +41 41 982 08 80 Mobile +41 79 698 05 69Fax +41 41 982 06 [email protected]
Arealstrasse 6CH-6020 Emmenbrücke-Luzern Switzerland
Arealstrasse 6CH-6020 Emmenbrücke-Luzern Switzerland
