- Thameur Mejri
Eduardo Secci is pleased to announce the first solo show by Thameur Mejri in Milan, opening at NOVO in Via Olmetto on November 17, 2022. The exhibition curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto in the independent experimental space of the gallery takes place until February 4, 2023.
Known for his complex but balanced compositions and for the destructuring of human bodies, Thameur Mejri, through his works, he explores a political and critical vision of Tunisian society, while engaging the responsibility of the artist with regard to contemporary issues. His precise and prolific iconography constitutes a device critical of our relationship with the objects and symbols that surround us in daily life and which impose, whether consciously or not, certain forms of alienation.
In these new series of works he tried to keep certain constants, and in particular the attention to the human body, which charges with a powerful political interpretation and which he has until now largely developed, especially in the large-format paintings. A change is nevertheless noticeable in the expression of this political body. It is now also a matter of existential and metaphysical questions that occupy the artist. But the main reflection still around working to deconstruct the relations of power and domination that structure contemporary societies, identifying in particular capitalism and the traditional ideologies that make them their instruments of control. In these new paintings themes like Love, Desire and human psychology are deconstructed. These new series are more like questions that Thameur ask himself about humans and their behaviors.
With a certain degree of violence, whether in terms of the composition of his paintings or in the pictorial vocabulary used, Thameur attempt to deconstruct the mechanisms of power and control put in place by the political, economic, cultural and religious systems in Tunisia and by extension, in North Africa.
Eduardo Secci is pleased to announce the first solo show by Thameur Mejri in Milan, opening at NOVO in Via Olmetto on November 17, 2022. The exhibition curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto in the independent experimental space of the gallery takes place until February 4, 2023.
Known for his complex but balanced compositions and for the destructuring of human bodies, Thameur Mejri, through his works, he explores a political and critical vision of Tunisian society, while engaging the responsibility of the artist with regard to contemporary issues. His precise and prolific iconography constitutes a device critical of our relationship with the objects and symbols that surround us in daily life and which impose, whether consciously or not, certain forms of alienation.
In these new series of works he tried to keep certain constants, and in particular the attention to the human body, which charges with a powerful political interpretation and which he has until now largely developed, especially in the large-format paintings. A change is nevertheless noticeable in the expression of this political body. It is now also a matter of existential and metaphysical questions that occupy the artist. But the main reflection still around working to deconstruct the relations of power and domination that structure contemporary societies, identifying in particular capitalism and the traditional ideologies that make them their instruments of control. In these new paintings themes like Love, Desire and human psychology are deconstructed. These new series are more like questions that Thameur ask himself about humans and their behaviors.
With a certain degree of violence, whether in terms of the composition of his paintings or in the pictorial vocabulary used, Thameur attempt to deconstruct the mechanisms of power and control put in place by the political, economic, cultural and religious systems in Tunisia and by extension, in North Africa.
Thameur Mejri, The echoes of you, 2022Acrylic charcoal pastel and pencil on canvas
180 x 140 cm
70 7/8 x 55 1/8 in
Thameur Mejri, Something you can never have 2, 2022Acrylic charcoal and pencil on canvas
200 x 200 cm
78 3/4 x 78 3/4 in
Thameur Mejri, Something you can never have 1, 2022Acrylic charcoal pastel and pencil on canvas
200 x 150 cm
78 3/4 x 59 in
Thameur Mejri, My idea of you, 2022Acrylic charcoal pastel and pencial on canvas
200 x 150 cm
78 3/4 x 59 in
Thameur Mejri, Physical, 2022Acrylic charcoal pastel and pencil on canvas
180 x 150 cm
70 7/8 x 59 in
Thameur Mejri, While we still here, 2022Acrylic charcoal pastel and pencil on canvas
180 x 150 cm
70 7/8 x 59 in
Thameur Mejri, Untitled, 2022Acrylic charcoal pastel and pencil on canvas
150 x 130 cm
59 x 51 1/8 in
Thameur Mejri, Not so far from here, 2022Collage charcoal pastel and acrylic pencil on paper
32 x 24 cm
12 5/8 x 9 1/2 in
Thameur Mejri, Not so far from here, 2022Collage charcoal pastel and acrylic pencil on paper
32 x 24 cm
12 5/8 x 9 1/2 in
Born in 1982 in Tunis, Thameur Mejri trained as a painter at the Institute of Fine Arts in Tunis and now lives and works in Nabeul, Tunisia.
Thameur Mejri investigates complexities of human existence by identifying parallels between paradoxical ideas of violence, innocence, guilt and shame. The human figure acts as a central element throughout his compositions, the vigorous manner in which Mejri places the figure onto the canvas, reflects the relationship between painting and painter, suggesting self-portraits that battle to fully emerge and reveal themselves. There is an interplay between painting and film. He approaches painting as a film director and he films with the vision of a painter, allowing for the qualities of each discipline to manifest upon one another; the chaos and movement in his paintings are a testament of this. The energetic application of colour establishes the atmosphere in this confrontation between heaven and hell, each represented by blue and red. In choosing these colours as a departure point and importantly for their opposing religious connotations of heaven and hell, he confirms the major influence of these symbols, particularly in the Muslim world.
He graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts in Tunis, He has exhibited widely, including the 13th Cairo Biennial, Cairo, Egypt / Dakar Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar, Senegal / N’ Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Detroit, USA / New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, New York, USA / solo exhibition at le MAC Lyon / France. Mejri’s work forms part of many prestigious collections of art, including Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE / The Sindika Dokolo Foundation, Luanda, Angola / Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon. The Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL). Marrakech. Morocco.
Born in 1982 in Tunis, Thameur Mejri trained as a painter at the Institute of Fine Arts in Tunis and now lives and works in Nabeul, Tunisia.
Thameur Mejri investigates complexities of human existence by identifying parallels between paradoxical ideas of violence, innocence, guilt and shame. The human figure acts as a central element throughout his compositions, the vigorous manner in which Mejri places the figure onto the canvas, reflects the relationship between painting and painter, suggesting self-portraits that battle to fully emerge and reveal themselves. There is an interplay between painting and film. He approaches painting as a film director and he films with the vision of a painter, allowing for the qualities of each discipline to manifest upon one another; the chaos and movement in his paintings are a testament of this. The energetic application of colour establishes the atmosphere in this confrontation between heaven and hell, each represented by blue and red. In choosing these colours as a departure point and importantly for their opposing religious connotations of heaven and hell, he confirms the major influence of these symbols, particularly in the Muslim world.
He graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts in Tunis, He has exhibited widely, including the 13th Cairo Biennial, Cairo, Egypt / Dakar Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar, Senegal / N’ Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Detroit, USA / New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, New York, USA / solo exhibition at le MAC Lyon / France. Mejri’s work forms part of many prestigious collections of art, including Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE / The Sindika Dokolo Foundation, Luanda, Angola / Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon. The Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL). Marrakech. Morocco.
- Claire Fontaine
- David Schnell
