BEIRUT - Sfeir-Semler Gallery is pleased to present Contemporary Myths II, Wael Shawky’s first one-person exhibition with the gallery. An opening reception with the artist will be held on November 25, 2010 from 7-9PM.

The exhibition Contemporary Myths II centers around Wael Shawky’s epic marionette animation film “Cabaret Crusades: The Horror Show File”. In a retelling of the first crusades from the years 1096-1099, Shawky has made highly intricate film starring 200 year-old marionettes from the Italian Lupi Collection. This horror film of sorts follows the course of events after a Papal mandate sent half-a-million Franks on a military campaign to ‘reclaim’ Jersusalem from the Muslim armies. Mining this transformative historical moment for its profound resonance today, Shawky’s film examines the causes and effects of religious war and its impact on European and Arab relations while laying bare the question of who pulls the strings of history.

Installed across from the film is a scenography of the site of Aleppo, a complex diorama that includes the castle of Aleppo astride a river of oil set within an architecture of arches receding into a mountainous landscape in an off-kilter Renaissance perspective. Like the sets from his film, this scenography reveals the atmosphere and framework of Shawky’s tale of the crusades, where perception becomes distorted in a dream-like interplay between the natural and the man-made, the historical and the present. Alongside his film and installation, Shawky will present a series of superfine-grain photographic portraits of the cast of puppets from “Cabaret Crusades” printed on cotton paper. In addition, he will show geometric crusader flags made of tarmac, sandpaper and galvanized wire that hover between painting and sculpture. Also on view will be a suite of fantastical drawings in ink, pencil and metallic pigments that illustrate fairytale-like interactions between imaginary beasts, landscapes, architecture, and the natural elements. With this dynamic interplay of film, installation, drawing, sculpture and photography, Shawky opens up the texture of history and confronts this faraway time in vivid focus and tactile intensity.

Wael Shawky (born Alexandria, 1971) studied fine art at the University of Alexandria before receiving his M.F.A. from the University of Pennsilvania in 2000. His work has been included the 50th Venice Biennial (2003); SITE Santa Fe Biennial (2008); The 9th International Istanbul Biennial (2005); Scenes du Sud II, at the Carré d'Art – Musée d'Art Contemporain, Nimes, France (2008); Mediterraneans at MACRO: Museum of Modern Art Rome, Italy (2004); Stile der stadt, Grosse Bergstrasse, Altona, Hamburg, Germany (2006); Urban Realities: Focus Istanbul, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany (2005); among others. He has had one-person exhibitions at the Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella, Italy (2010); Townhouse, Cairo (2003, 2005), Ludwigsburg Kunstverein, Germany (2005). Shawky has received many awards for his work, including The International Commissioning Grant, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York (2005); The International Award of The Islamic World Arts Initiative, Arts International, New York (2004); The American Center Foundation Grant, Philadelphia (2004). Shawky lives and works in Alexandria, Egypt, and is the founder of MASS Alexandria, a studio program for young artists.

The marionette animation film "Cabaret Crusades: The Horror Show File" was produced by Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto in Biella Italy together with the Festival Theater der Welt of Essen, Germany. The project was made possible by Daniele Lupi and the Lupi Family Collection of precious 200-year-old marionettes, Turin, Piedmont, Italy. Special thanks to scenographer Paola Sommaruga.