Egyptian Basim Magdy wins Deutsche Bank’s ‘Artist of the Year’ Award

Egyptian Basim Magdy has been awarded ‘Artist of the Year’ 2016 by Deutsche Bank.

As well as the support he will be offered throughout the year, Magdy will hold a solo exhibition at the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle in Berlin in spring 2016.

According to the bank’s website, the award is given on the recommendation of the Deutsche Bank Global Art Advisory Council which consists of renowned curators Okwui Enwezor, Hou Hanru, Udo Kittelmann, and Victoria Noorthoorn. The award goes to a contemporary artist who has created an artistically, as well as socially relevant, oeuvre, one integrating the media of paper and photography – the two main areas of focus of the Deutsche Bank Collection.

Magdy is the seventh artist to win the award. Previous artists include: Wangechi Mutu (2010), Yto Barrada from Morocco (2011), Roman Ondák from Slovakia (2012), Imran Qureshi (2013), Victor Man (2014) and Koki Tanaka (2015).

On the website, bank explains its involvement in arts saying that: “Art questions. It spawns new ideas for shaping our future. It inspires people, opens up new perspectives, and thus enables them to embrace unusual and innovative solutions. That is why promoting art has been a focus of Deutsche Bank’s cultural activities for more than 30 years.”

Magdy was born in Assiut in 1977, and received his BFA in painting from Helwan University in 2000. His diverse oeuvre includes works on paper, film, and paintings, among others.

The artist has participated in numerous international group exhibitions, including the Sharjah, Dubai and Istanbul Biennials in 2013 and La Biennale de Montreal and MEDIACITY Seoul Biennial in 2014. His works are currently on display in New York and at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.

In March 2014, Magdy won the Abraaj Group Art Prize for his previous film The Dent.

Source: Ahram Online