MIA Photo Fair BNP Paribas is not just an event – it is a place for encounters, discoveries, and conversations around contemporary photography.
We are pleased to share that Gallery +359 will take part in this year’s edition, where we will present a selection of works by Moataz Nasr.
The Slave Market
There are three large-size photos, depicting auctions of women. In two of them, the auctioneers are wearing antique himation, while the bidders are clothed rather contemporary. Whereas the women are mostly undressed and they are evidently ashamed. In these photos, the artist reinterprets paintings by Jean-Léon Gérôme from the second half of the 19th century. With his style of the academic realism, the French artist displayed the current scientific state of knowledge about antiquity. Once again, tradition and modernity meet. The paintings are transferred into a contemporary medium: photography. Moreover, Nasr changes the perspective: while Gérôme displayed the European idea of oriental behaviour, the Egypt artist looks at European art history from his position.
Rose (The slave Market)
Ed. 3 + 1 AP
2016
cotton paper C-print on Dibond
185 cm x 146,5 cm
Petro Beads
In Petro Beads, Moataz Nasr strings together perforated and illuminated gas containers to form an oversized strand of prayer beads. The industrial tanks — symbols of fossil fuel wealth and global energy economies — are transformed into objects associated with religious devotion, creating a powerful visual metaphor for the relationship between petro-capital and religion.
The containers are carefully perforated and painted, allowing the light inside to glow outward and cast patterns reminiscent of traditional metal lamps found across North Africa and the Middle East. Although made from recycled industrial materials, the work recalls long-standing artisanal traditions and devotional objects used in spiritual rituals. This transformation from utilitarian gas vessels into luminous beads creates a striking tension between industry and spirituality.
By merging these two worlds, Nasr reflects on how economic power derived from natural resources can shape religious institutions and practices. At the same time, the light glowing from within the containers suggests that spirituality itself persists, even when surrounded by structures of power and wealth.
Petro Beads | 2019
34 gas containers, metal , site-specific dimensions
About Moataz Nasr
A self-taught artist, Moataz Nasr made the pivotal decision to abandon a career in Economics to follow his creative passion. Moving from his hometown of Alexandria to a studio in Old Cairo, he began a journey that would establish him as one of the most significant representatives of pan-Arab contemporary art. Nasr believes that art and life are inseparable, a philosophy that led him to co-found Townhouse in 1998—the first independent exhibition space in Egypt’s history.
Artistic Vision
Nasr’s work explores the complex cultural processes of the Islamic world, surpassing geographical limits to voice the worries and torments of the African continent. Key elements of his practice include:
Geopolitical Identity: A deep feeling of belonging to a specific cultural context.
Homeland: The necessity of maintaining a continuous link with Egypt.
Universalism: Transcending idiosyncrasies to address global human concerns.
2001: Achieved international breakthrough by winning the Grand Prix at the 8th International Cairo Biennial.
2017: Selected to represent Egypt at the 57th Venice Biennale with the immersive installation and film, The Mountain.
2021: Won the AVIFF-Art Film Festival Cannes Award for The Mountain.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024: Bottle Neck, Galleria Continua, Dubai.
2019: The Liminal Space, Castel del Monte, Andria (Curated by Achille Bonito Oliva).
2019: Paradise Lost, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano (Curated by Simon Njami).
Major Group Exhibitions & Biennials
Biennials: Venice, Seoul, Sao Paulo, Bogota, Yinchuan (2018), Havana (2020), and the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale: Awwal Bait (Jeddah, 2023).
2024: Art Here 2024, Louvre Abu Dhabi.
2022: In the Heat, Galleria Continua, Dubai.
2021: Truc à Faire, curated by JR, Galleria Continua, Paris.
2019: Fiac Hors Les Murs, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris (Installation: Sun Boat).
2017: Metropolis. Afriques Capitales, La Villette, Paris; Senses of Time, LACMA & Smithsonian, Washington.
2014: Arab Contemporary, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk.
2013: The Sea Is My Land, MAXXI, Rome.