Youssef Nabil is an Egyptian artist with a passion for memory and the realistic world he grew up in. He uses a unique technique to hand-paint his high-contrast photographs, creating unique and exceptional editions. Throughout his career, which began in 1992, Youssef Nabil has explored dramatic themes inspired by Egyptian cinema of the golden era.
His photographs offer an escape from the real world due to their verisimilitude, populated with characters that have marked his life, such as famous actors and scholars. His works exude a sense of calm and security, playing with themes of exoticism and eroticism. The images touch on a wide range of categories, creating a wonderful and sexy setting.
Youssef Nabil also addresses the brevity of life in his work, representing himself in self-portraits that explore the duality between life and death, reality and dreams, home and exile. These self-representations are taken around the world and become symbols of exile, of a desire to return to a lost home.
Youssef Nabil addresses himself with a moral story through his hidden character, and invites the viewer to participate in his own folklore through direct procedures and split arrangements. By adding strange energy to his photographs by setting them in an imaginary land rather than a real place, Youssef Nabil shares a personal but widespread message.
Over the years, the artist has also explored the artistic medium by interpreting his reality into moving images, deepening his relationship with cinema. He has participated in numerous international exhibitions in prestigious museums such as the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Museum für Modern Kunst, the Centre Pompidou and the Savannah College of Art and Design. Youssef Nabil continues to captivate art lovers around the world with his unique style and creative approach to life.
