Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Julia Schryver: Mounir Fatmi, Redefining Contemporary Arab Art

Mounir Fatmi

Mounir Fatmi is a Moroccan artist who works with multi-media designs. Though he is currently working in paris, his works are closely related to his life in Morocco, The Middle East, Islam, and the Arabic language.  Mounir has been able to create masterpieces that start a conversation between modernity and tradition and how religion has changed over the passage of time.  His work had been shown all over the world and he is one of the most famous Moroccan artists working today.  

Fatmi is famous for the global quality of his work, where he discusses worldly themes dealing with themes of terrorism, religion, acceptance, and nationalism.  A controversial but respected artist in the Middle East and North Africa, Fatmi is quickly becoming an extremely important figure in the Arab Contemporary Art scene.  

Though the meanings behind his works are not always so clear, the ambiguity of his works aid in the starting of conversations.  Fatmi's work called the Paradox, shows verses from the Quran cut out of the saw of a steel cutter. The juxtaposition between religion and machine create an interesting discussion of modernity while demonstrating the artists own qualms about his faith. Fatmi's most recent pieces reflect his interest in continuing this discussion.

mounir fatmi Claude Lévi-StraussMounir Fatmi Claude Lévi-Strauss


Another example of Fatmi continuine the conversation between tradition and modernity can be seen in his work Maximum Sensation where the artsist covered skateboards with traditional prayer rugs.

mounir fatmi forget installation


Mounir Fatmi is still in the early stages of his artistic career but he is already proving to be a top contender in the art world. He has the potential to help bring attention to more North African and Middle Eastern artists that deserve to be seen by the rest of the world.



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