oussef Nabil is enamored of the cinema. Growing up in Egypt, he longed for the time before the revolution, an era of elegance and decadence that he had absorbed from Arab movies of the forties and fifties. Nabil shoots his elaborately arranged portraits in black-and-white, and then meticulously hand-colors his prints, each one an original artwork. His palette is rich and varied, reflecting the vibrant films of his youth. Nabil’s earlier work, created shortly after his departure from Egypt, evokes a nostalgia for the cinematic past. He strikes more somber notes in his recent self-portraits: loneliness, longing, death. It comes as no surprise that he also shoots portraits of the movie stars he so much admires. Youssef Nabil dreams of days past of the golden age of cinema, when theater lobbies were filled with hand-tinted stills from the current movies and coming attractions. The Cairo-born, New York-based artist makes luscious, hand-colored gelatin silver prints of artists, friends, and himself that are inspired by Egyptian movies posters and films of the ’40s and ’50s. Exploring a sense of longing and nostalgia, Nabil constructs sublime visions of people who he admires and his own place in a cinematic realm he dreamily inhabits. Playful portrayals of actors Rossy de Palma, Salim Kechiouche, and Catherine Deneuve mingle with self-portraits shot viewing the pyramids, Paris by night, and the iconic Hollywood sign. On view in his first New York solo show at Yossi Milo Gallery, Nabil’s work enchants both the soul and the eye.
www.youssefnabil.com
