yasser rostom - doves & crows
DESCRIPTION
As we reflect on the fifth anniversary of a defining moment in our history, Cairo-based surrealist painter Yasser Rostom sheds light on different aspects of the current geopolitical events. Featuring a new body of work in Doves and Crows, Rostom mixes literalism with symbolism to create layers of meanings and accentuate the ills afflicting the region as well as the hopes that could salvage the peoples. To an artist born in 1971, the Arab Spring, a term that inspired hope and change, provides the space to rethink our national identity/identities and ponder on what might come next. Using symbols from his studies in ancient Egyptian art, personified animals and iconic visuals from different neighboring countries, Rostom constructs a witty and surreal socio-political tale in search of answers.TRANSCRIPT
Yasser Rostom
YASSER ROSTOM DOVES & CROWS
If you look at drawing, which is that silent poetry, you will find the truth marked for you. Sheikh Mohamed Abdou (March 18, 1904)
As we reflect on the fi2h anniversary of a defining moment in our history, Cairo-‐based surrealist painter Yasser Rostom sheds light on different aspects of the current geopoliAcal events. Featuring a new body of work in Doves & Crows, Rostom mixes literalism with symbolism to create layers of meanings and accentuate the ills afflicAng the region as well as the hopes that could salvage the peoples. To an arAst born in 1971, the Arab Spring, a term that inspired hope and change, provides the space to rethink our naAonal idenAty/idenAAes and ponder on what might come next. Using symbols from his studies in ancient EgypAan art, personified animals and iconic visuals from different neighboring countries, Rostom constructs a wiOy and surreal socio-‐poliAcal tale in search of answers.
The dove and the crow, two birds adopted as icons of peace and power, appear on Rostom’s intricate works on paper and reveal his paranoiac-‐criAcal method of decoding the present for greater arAsAc creaAvity. To millions, the defenseless doves are a symbol of peace. The cunning crow, on the other hand, is the symbol of the dark and terrible night, or the necessary opponent.
In our conAnued quest for peace and religious tolerance, Yasser Rostom reminds us of the confused state in which hope and despair seem to blur. In honoring one of the founders of EgypAan Surrealism of the 1940s, Rostom stays true to Ramses Younan’s statement that art presents itself as the means to liberate the na0on.
Brothers, 2015 Ink & gouache on paper 130 x 120 cm YR-‐201
Borderline, 2015 Ink & gouache on paper 130 x 120 cm YR-‐202
Detour in the Name of God, 2015 Ink & gouache on paper 130 x 120 cm YR-‐203
Kheir Agnad el Ard, 2015 Ink & gouache on paper 130 x 120 cm YR-‐204
El Nahda, 2015 Ink & gouache on paper 130 x 120 cm YR-‐205
Arab Chess, 2015 Ink & gouache on paper 130 x 120 cm YR-‐206
Masr Betefra7, 2015 Ink on paper 130 x 120 cm YR-‐207
EgypFan SFll Life, 2015 Ink & gouache on paper 130 x 200 cm YR-‐208
Les Guirlandes, 2015 Ink & gouache on paper 130 x 120 cm YR-‐209
A Room with a View, 2015 Ink and gouache on paper 130 x 120 cm YR-‐210
Milk and Dates, 2015 Ink & gouache on paper 130 x 120 cm YR-‐211
Aylan, 2015 Ink & gouache on paper 130 x 120 cm YR-‐212
Shamekh, 2015 (Transparent) Ink & gouache on paper 130 x 120 cm YR-‐213
Hamdala Gives Up, 2015 Ink on paper 130 x 120 cm YR-‐214
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