Susan Hefuna

Susan Hefuna (born 1962 ) is a German - Egyptian artist.

Life

Susan Hefuna studied at art academies in Germany and graduated in 1992 at the Institute for New Media at the Städel School in Frankfurt am Main, Peter Weibel their postgraduate training from. She lives and works in Dusseldorf, Cairo and New York City.

Work

Susan Hefuna uses in its work of various artistic media, such as drawing, photography, sculpture, installation, video and performance. Both their German and her Egyptian heritage express themselves, along with personal experiences, in their multiple works from which build bridges between different cultures and their traditions and idiosyncrasies reflect. Cross-cultural codes probing, Hefuna plays in her work consistently with the intent and effect of images by creating abstract spaces and contexts with a wide range of meanings can fill the viewer. The temporal and spatial indicators depend on the cultural and social reflections and projections of the respective viewer.

A recurring inspiration for Susan Hefuna work is the Maschrabiyya a delicately carved wooden or stone carved fretwork panels or window bars, such as those found in traditional Egyptian architecture. This motif first appeared in Hefuna drawings in layers of tracing paper in 1990 and in their photographs taken in 1999 on the streets of Cairo with a pinhole camera. In 2003, she began with traditional Egyptian craftsmen to work to produce three-dimensional sculptural lattice panels. Hefuna first solo exhibition in Egypt in 1992 was a key experience. The motif of Mashrabiyas in her abstract photographs was recognized by the Egyptian audience immediately. The viewer saw the very essence of their work and not their reflection, while in Germany their work was perceived as a purely Western-influenced abstract art. From this point on their work and their working method has increasingly been informed of this double resonance. The international recognition of your drawings reached in 2009 at the 53rd Venice Biennale a climax when in the exhibition entitled " Fare Mondi " ( " Making Worlds " ) in the Giardini and the Arsenale about 300 of its multi-layered ink and pencil drawings shown on tracing paper were.

Group and individual exhibitions (selection)

• 2000: Susan Hefuna, Kunstverein Lippstadt, Lippstadt, Germany ( solo exhibition )
• 2000: Susan Hefuna, The Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt ( solo exhibition )
• 2001: Unpacking Europe, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• 2003: DisORIENTation, House of World Cultures, Berlin, Germany
• 2003: Fantasies de l' harem i Noves Xahrazads, Centre Contemporary Culture of Barcelona, Barcelona, ​​Spain
• 2004: Contrepoints, Louvre, Paris, France
• 2004: presence of the performative in sculpture, painting, photography, Neue Galerie Graz, Joanneum Universal Museum, Graz, Austria
• 2004: Susan Hefuna, City Gallery, Saarbrücken, Germany ( solo exhibition )
• 2004: Susan Hefuna, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany ( solo exhibition )
• 2005: Regards the Photographes Arabes Contemporains, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
• 2006: 19 Views - Contemporary Arab Photography, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville, Spain
• 2006: Neterotopia, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
• 2008: Youniverse, BIACS3, Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
• 2008: Museum as Hub: Antikhana, New Museum, New York, New York, USA
• 2008: Susan Hefuna, ACAF, Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum, Alexandria, Egypt ( solo exhibition )
• 2008: Word Into Art, The British Museum, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• 2009: Taswir - Islamic imagery and modernity, Martin -Gropius -Bau, Berlin, Germany
• 2009: Fare Mondi, 53rd Biennale di Venecia, Venice, Italy
• 2010: Edgware Road @ Cairo 2010/1431, The Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt ( solo exhibition )
• 2010: On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century, Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, USA
• 2010: Vienna 2010/1431, Belvedere, Vienna, Austria ( solo exhibition )
• 2010: Project Europe: Imaging the ( Im) Possible, Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida Knowledge is Sweeter Than Honey, MUMOK, Museum of Modern Art, Vienna, Austria (Single Performance)
• 2010: Susan Hefuna, Bharti Kher, Fred Tomaselli: Between the Worlds, Kunstmuseum Thun
• 2011: wonder Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany Susan Hefuna: Istanbul, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, Turkey ( solo exhibition )
• 2011: type and typography in contemporary art, Museum of the Printing Arts Leipzig, Germany
• 2012: Encounter, Katara Arts Center, Doha, Qatar
• 2012: Systems and Patterns, International Centre of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana,
• 2013: Safar / Voyage, The University of British Columbia, Museum of Anthropology (UBC Museum of Anthropology ), Vancouver, Canada

Prices and residencies

Literature (selection )

Books, exhibition catalogs

• Susan Hefuna: navigation xcultural, by Leonhard Emmerling, Marilyn Martin, Tayfun Belgin, Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg, 2000, ISBN 978-3933257345
• Susan Hefuna, exhibition catalog, edited by Tayfun Belgin, Kunstverein Lippstadt, total production Plitt, printing & publishing, Oberhausen, 2000, ISBN 3-9806707-3-2
• Unpacking Europe: Towards a Critical Reading, by Salah Hassan, Iftikhar Dadi, Leslie Adelson, exhibition catalog, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, NAi Publishers, Rotterdam, 2001
• DisORIENTation: Contemporary Arab artists from the Middle East, exhibition catalog, published by the House of World Cultures, Berlin, 2003, ISBN 978-3980885126
• Susan Hefuna: xcultural codes, edited by Hans Gercke, Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg, 2004, ISBN 978-3936636154
• Susan Hefuna: Pars Pro Toto I, edited by Hans -Ulrich Obrist (in English and Arabic), Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg, 2009, ISBN 978-3939583769
• Susan Hefuna: Pars Pro Toto II edited by Hans- Ulrich Obrist ( in English and Arabic), Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg, 2009, ISBN 978-3868280555
• Making Worlds: 53rd International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia, edited by Daniel Birnbaum, Marsilio, Venice, 2009, ISBN 978-8831796965
• Susan Hefuna - Bharti Kher - Fred Tomaselli: Between the Worlds / Between The Worlds, by Helen Hirsch et al, published by Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg, 2010, ISBN 978-3868281767
• Susan Hefuna: Mapping Vienna, exhibition catalog, published by Galerie Grita Insam, Vienna, 2010
• Susan Hefuna: Istanbul, Tayfun Belgin, exhibition catalog, Pi Artworks Gallery, Istanbul, 2011
• Cairo Dreams 2011 by Bettina Matthes, exhibition catalog, The Third Line Gallery, Dubai, 2011

Articles (Selection )

• Leonhard Emmerling: The Ethics of Being Alien: The Art of Susan Hefuna: The Discreet Charm of assimilation. In: NKA Journal of Contemporary African Art, Herbst-/Winter-Ausgabe, Duke University Press, 2001
• Tracy Murinik: Susan Hefuna: Celebrate Life. In: NKA Journal of Contemporary African Art, Frühling-/Sommer-Ausgabe, Duke University Press, 2001
• Mark Rappolt: Susan Hefuna: Everything is Drawing. In: Art Review, Issue 46, London, 2010
• Bettina Mathes: Susan Hefuna: Corporeal Map. In: Flash Art, November-/Dezember-Ausgabe # 275, Milan
• Reinhard Ermen: Susan Hefuna: Draw the time. In: Art Forum International, Issue 208, 2011 Germany
• Sarah P. Hanson: Susan Hefuna: An artist pivots between cultures. In: Modern Painters, November edition, New York, 2012