Self-Portrait with the Nile, Luxor, 2014
Archival pigment ink on archival cotton-rag paper
50 x 75 cm
The artist's silhouette is in the centre of the photograph, dressed in a long black djellaba and standing out against the blue background of the Nile. Turning his back to the viewer, he contemplates the horizon stretching across the majestic ruins of the Luxor Temple.
Self-portraiture is intertwined with the experience of exile in Youssef Nabil's work. The Egyptian photographer left his country in 2003 to live freely from his art. Since then he has depicted himself alone in front of silent landscapes during his travels. During a stay with his family, he set out to confront the multi-millennial history of his country, which is now both familiar and foreign to him.
Acquired by the Pinault Collection, Self-Portrait With the Nile, Luxor, 2014 is being presented for the first time during Nabil's 2020 solo show “Once Upon A Dream” at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice.
