CV

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

2022The Beautiful Voyage, The Third Line Gallery, Dubai, U.A.E.
2022Memory of a Happy Place, Nathalie Obadia Gallery, Paris, France.
2020Youssef Nabil, Once Upon A Dream, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy.
2019Youssef Nabil, Institut du Monde Arabe, Tourcoing, France.
2017Deep Roots, Nathalie Obadia Gallery, Brussels, Belgium.
2017I Saved My Belly Dancer, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), U.S.A.
2016I Saved My Belly Dancer, The Third Line Gallery, Dubai, U.A.E.
2015I Saved My Belly Dancer, Nathalie Obadia Gallery, Paris, France.
2012Youssef Nabil, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France.
2011You Never Left, Nathalie Obadia Gallery, Paris, France.
2010I Live Within You, Savannah College of Art and Design-SCAD, Savannah, U.S.A.
2010Youssef Nabil, Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, U.S.A.
2009Youssef Nabil, GALERIST, Istanbul, Turkey.
2009I Live Within You, Savannah College of Art and Design-SCAD, Atlanta, U.S.A.
2009I Won't Let you Die, Villa Medici, Rome, Italy.
2009I Will Go to Paradise, The Third Line Gallery, Dubai, U.A.E.
2009Youssef Nabil, Volker Diehl Gallery, Berlin, Germany.
2008CINEMA, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.
2007Sleep in my arms, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.
2007
Portraits / Self portraits, The Third Line Gallery, Dubai, U.A.E.
2005Realities to Dreams, Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo, Egypt.
2003Pour un Moment d'Éternité, Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, France.
2001Obsesiones, Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, Mexico.
2001Youssef Nabil, Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo, Egypt.
1999Premiere, Cairo-Berlin Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt.


Selected Group Exhibitions:

2024Exils, Musée du Louvre, Lens, France.
2024Le Temps d’un Rêve, Musée des Confluences, Lyon, France.
2024De Renava - Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Bonifacio, La Corse, France.
2022Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA, LA, U.S.A.
2021Beyond Colour, Black and White in the Pinault Collection, Couvent des Jacobins, Rennes, France.
2021Reflections, Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa. The British Museum, London, U.K.
2021A Boundless Drop to a Boundless Ocean, Orlando Museum of Art, Florida, U.S.A.
2020Histories of Dance, MASP Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
2020Orientalisms, IVAM Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Valencia, Spain.
2019The 13th International Cairo Biennale, Cairo, Egypt.
2018The Shapes of Birds: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa, Newport Art Museum, Rhode Island, U.S.A.
2018BOTH, AND. Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.
2018Beyond Words, 4th Mardin Biennial, Turkey
2018Al Musiqa, Cité de la Musique - Philharmonie de Paris, Paris, France.
2017Hips Don’t Lie, Centre Pompidou Paris, France
2017A Painting Today, Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2016Looking at the World Around You, Fundación Banco Santander, Madrid, Spain.
2016Hips Don’t Lie, Centre Pompidou Málaga, Spain
2016The Blue Hour, Centro Cultural de Santa Cruz, Biennale of the Visual Arts of Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
2016Portrait of the Artist as an Alter, FRAC Haute-Normandie, France.
2016Dream Light, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami, U.S.A.
2016Botticelli Reimagined, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
2015The Botticelli Renaissance, Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2015Home Ground, Aga Khan Museum of Art, Toronto, Canada.
2015The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists. Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C, U.S.A.
2015Islamic Art Now: Contemporary Art of the Middle East. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA, LA, U.S.A.
2014The Divine Comedy, Heaven, Hell, Purgatory Revisited by Contemporary African Artists,
SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia, U.S.A.
2014The Divine Comedy, Heaven, Hell, Purgatory Revisited by Contemporary African Artists,
MMK Museum für Modern Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany.
2014Ri-conoscere Michelangelo, Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, Italy.
2013Tea with Nefertiti, IVAM Institut Valencia d'Art Modern, Valencia, Spain.
2013Matisse à Nice, Palmiers, Palmes et Palmettes, Musée Masséna, Nice, France.
2013Sous Influences, Arts Plastiques et Psychotropes, La Maison Rouge, Paris, France.
2013Safar Voyage, Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, Canada.
2013Ici, Ailleurs, Friche la Belle de Mai, Marseille, France.
2012Light from the Middle East: New Photography, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, U.K.
2012The Royal Academy of Arts Encounter, Cultural Village Foundation Katara, Doha, Qatar.
2012Tea with Nefertiti, Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar.
2012Édouard et Cléopâtre, Égyptomanies depuis le XIXe siècle, Boghossian Foundation, Brussels, Belgium.
2012Pose/Re-Pose: Figurative Works Then and Now, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia, U.S.A.
2011Facing Mirrors, Museum of Photography, Thessaloniki, Greece.
2011Of Women's Modesty and Anger, Boghossian Foundation, Brussels, Belgium.
2010Told, Untold, Retold, Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar.
2010Portraits, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Brussels, Belgium.
2009Unconditional Love, The Venice Biennale - 53rd International Art Exhibition, Venice, Italy.
2009ARABESQUE, Arts of The Arab World, The Kennedy Center, Washington DC, U.S.A.
2008Far From Home, North Carolina Museum of Art NCMA, North Carolina, U.S.A.
2008Portraits II, Galeria Leme, São Paulo, Brazil.
2008Last of the Dictionary Men, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle, U.K.
2008Disguise, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.
2008Regards des Photographes Arabes Contemporains, Musée National d'Art Moderne et Contemporain MNAMC, Alger, Algeria.
2008Perfect Lovers, Art Extra, Johannesburg, South Africa.
2007Gegenwart aus Jahrtausenden, Zeitgenössische Kunst aus Ägypten, Kunstmuseum, Bonn, Germany.
2007Dialogues Méditerranéens, Saint-Tropez, France.
2006Arabiske Blikke, GL Strand Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2006Word into Art, The British Museum, London, U.K.
2006Images of the Middle East, Danish Center for Culture and Development, Copenhagen, Denmark.
200619 miradas. Fotógrafos árabes contemporáneos, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla, Spain.
2005Regards des Photographes Arabes Contemporains, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France.
2005Nazar, Photographs from the Arab World, The Aperture Foundation Gallery, New York, U.S.A.
2005L'Égypte, Saline Royale d'Arc et Senans, France.
2005Arab Eyes, FotoFest Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
2004Nazar: Noorderlicht, The Fries Museum, Leeuwaarden, The Netherlands.
2004Rites sacrés, Rites profanes: Zeitgenossiche Afrikanische Fotographie, Kornhausforum, Bern, Switzerland.
2004Staged Realities: Exposing the Soul in African Photography 1870-2004, Michael Stevenson Contemporary Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.
2004Bamako 03: Contemporary African Photography, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona MACBA, Barcelona, Spain.
2003Rites sacrés, Rites profanes, Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie, Bamako, Mali.

 

Artist Talks:

2020Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy
2018The University of Melbourne, Australia
2017Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), U.S.A
2016FRAC Haute-Normandie, France
2014The Sotheby's Institute of Art, New York, U.S.A
2013The Guggenheim Museum, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E
2009Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Atlanta, U.S.A
2008University of North Carolina, U.S.A
2007American University in Dubai, U.A.E

 

Monographs:

2020Once Upon A Dream, Youssef Nabil - Marsilio
2013Youssef Nabil - Flammarion
2008I Won't Let you Die, Youssef Nabil - Hatje Cantz
2007Sleep in my Arms, Youssef Nabil - Autograph & Michael Stevenson

 

Books and Exhibitions Catalogues:

The Landscape of Our Memories: Recent Works by Youssef Nabil, by Layla S. Diba, New York, July 2022
Some Thoughts on Youssef Nabil's "The Beautiful Voyage" Exhibition, by Bob Colacello, New York, 2022
Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse, by Linda Komaroff, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA, USA, 2022.
Au-Delà de la Couleur: Le Noir et le Blanc dans la Collection Pinault, by : Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Colin Lemoine, Dilecta, France, 2021
Reflections: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa, by: Venetia Porter, Charles Tripp, Natasha Morris. The British Museum, England, 2021
A Boundless Drop to a Boundless Ocean, by Shiva Balaghi. Orlando Museum of Art. USA, 2021
Youssef Nabil - Once Upon a Dream, by Youssef Nabil, André Aciman, François Pinault, Matthieu Humery, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Linda Komaroff. Marsilio. Italy, 2020.
Histórias Da Dança, by Adriano Pedrosa; Julia Bryan-Wilson; Olivia Ardui. MASP Museum. Brazil, 2020.
Africa State of Mind: Contemporary Photography Reimagines a Continent, by Ekow Eshun. Thames & Hudson. England, 2020.
Les Langages De L’image - De la peinture aux Big Visual Data. by Maria Giulia Dondero. Hermann Editions. France, 2020
Arles, Les Rencontres de la Photographie - 50 Ans d'Histoire, by Françoise Denoyelle. Editions de la Martinière. France, 2019.
ARABICITY, by Rose Issa and Juliet Cestar. Saqi Books. England, 2019.
The Shapes of Birds: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa, by Francine Weiss, Newport Art Museum,  2018
Contemporary Voices from the Asian and Islamic Art Worlds, by Olivia Sand, 2018
African Lights : A New Contemporary, 2018
Botticelli Reimagined. Mark Evans, Stefan Weppelmann, Ana Debenedetti, Ruben Rebmann, Mary McMahon and Gabriel Montua. V&A Publishing. London, 2016.
The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists. Simon Njami. Kerber. Germany. 2015
Islamic Art Now: Contemporary Art of the Middle East. Linda Komaroff. LACMA. USA. 2015
View From Inside Contemporary Arab Photography Video and Mixed Media Art. Wendy Watriss, Karin Adrian Von Roques, Dr.Claude W.Sui. Thames and Hudson, London, 2014
Music Palace, the Power of Music seen by Visual Artists. Diana Wiegersma, Joseph Ghosn, Pacôme Thiellement and Hind Meddeb. Boghossian Foundation, Belgium. 2014.
After Orientalism: Critical Perspectives on Western Agency and Eastern Re-Appropriations. François Pouillon and Jean-Claude Vatin, BRILL. USA. 2014.
Ri-conoscere Michelangelo La scultura del Buonarroti nella fotografia e nella pittura dall'Ottocento a oggi. Monica Maffioli e Silvestra Bietoletti. Giunti, Italy 2014
Photography: A Cultural History. Mary Warner Marien, Pearson, London 2013
Le théoreme de Néfertiti : Itinéraire de l'oeuvre d'art : la création des icônes, Sam Bardaouil, Till Fellrath, Paris, Skira, Flammarion 2013
Safar/Voyage: Contemporary Works by Arab, Iranian, and Turkish Artists, texts by Fereshteh Daftari and Jill Baird, Anthony Shelton, Naghmeh Sohrabi, and Derek Gregory, Vancouver, Douglas & Mcintyre Publishers Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, 2013
Ici, ailleurs, Juliette Laffon [dir.], « Youssef Nabil », Bernard Collet, Paris, Skira Flammarion, 2013
Light from the Middle East: New Photography, texts by Marta Weiss, Venetia Porter, Kate Best, Stephen Deuchar,London, The Victoria & Albert Museum, 2012
Encounter: The Royal Academy in the Middle East, texts by David Thorp, Kathy Battista, London, The Royal Academy of Arts / Singapore, Fortune Cookie, 2012
Il corpo solitario. L'autoscatto nella fotografia contemporanea, text by Giorgio Bonomi, Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino, 2012
100 Ideas that Changed Photography, text by Mary Warner Marien, London, Laurence King Publishing, 2012
Égyptomanies depuis le XIXe siècle, Édouard et Cléopâtre, textes de Diane Hennebert, Bruxelles, Fondation Boghossian, 2012
Vingt-Cinq Ans de créativité arabe, textes de Véronique Rieffel et Ehab Ellaban, Paris, Institut du monde arabe, 2012
Collect Contemporary Photography, text by Jocelyn Phillips, London, Thames & Hudson, 2012
Le Corps découvert, textes de Liliane Karnouk, Philippe Cardinal et Hoda Makram-Ebeid, Paris, Hazan / Institut du monde arabe, 2012
Photographie contemporaine, mode d'emploi, Élisabeth Couturier, Paris, Flammarion, 2011
Talk about contemporary Photography, Élisabeth Couturier, Paris, Flammarion, 2012
Contemporary Art: World Currents, text by Terry Smith, London, Laurence King Publishing, 2011
Arab Photography Now, texts by Rose Issa and Michket Krifa, Heidelberg, Kehrer, 2011
Islamania, de l'Alhambra à la burqa, histoire d'une fascination artistique, texte de Véronique Rieffel, Paris, Beaux-Arts éditions, 2011
A tu per tu con I grandi fotografi, text by Manuela de Leonardis, Roma, Postcart, 2011
Told, Untold, Retold, texts by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, Paris, Skira, 2010
Youssef Nabil - I Live Within You, texts by Laurie Ann Farrell and Melissa Messina, Savannah, SCAD, 2010
Photography and Egypt, text by Maria Golia, Cairo, American University in Cairo Press, 2010
Art of the Middle East, texts by Saeb Eigner and Zaha Hadid, London, Merrell, 2010
Contemporary African Art since 1980, texts by Okwui Enwezor and Chika Okeke-Agulu, Bologna, Damiani, 2009
Unconditional Love, text by Fanny Ardant, Moscow, Buro 17, 2009
Contemporary French and Francophone Studies, texts by Sahar Amer and Martine Antle, Oxford and New York,Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2009
Qu'est-ce que la photographie aujourd'hui ? texte de Michket Krifa, Paris, Beaux-Arts éditions, 2009
Making Worlds - La Biennale di Venezia 53. Esposizione Internationale d'Arte, text by Brian Droitcour,Venice, Marsilio / Rizzoli, 2009
New Vision, Arab Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, texts by Hossein Amirsadeghi, Salwa Mikadi and Nada Shabout, London, Transglobal Publishing / Thames & Hudson, 2009
Future Images, text by Mario Cresci, Milan, Motta, 2009
Contemporary art in the Middle East, texts by Nat Muller, Lindsey Moore, TJ Demos and Suzanne Cotter, London, Black Dog Publishing, 2009
Aish, An other Islam, An other Art, texts by Ivan Ferrari and Gaia Serena Simionati, Paris, Skira, 2009
Youssef Nabil - I Won't Let you Die, texts by Octavio Zaya, Shirin Neshat, Ghada Amer and Faten Hamama, Ostfildern, Hatje Cantz, 2008
Disguise, text by Joost Bosland, Cape Town, Michael Stevenson, 2008
In the Arab World. Now, texts by Jérôme Sans, Fabrice Bousteau, Kaelen Wilson-Goldie, Paris, Enrico Navara, 2008
Youssef Nabil - Sleep in My Arms, texts by Tracey Emin, Simon Njami, Michael Stevenson and Mark Sealy, London, Autograph / Cape town, Michael Stevenson, 2007
Youssef Nabil - Portraits / Self-Portraits, text by Rose Issa, Dubai, The Third Line, 2007
Gegenwart aus Jahrtausenden, Zeitgenossische Kunst aus Agypten, texts by Dieter Ronte and Karin Adrian Von Roques,Cologne, Wienand, 2007
Dialogues méditerranéens, Paris, Beaux-Arts éditions, 2007
Créations artistiques contemporaines en pays d'Islam - Des arts en tensions, texte de Jocelyne Dakhlia, Paris, Kimé, 2006
Word into Art - Artists of the Modern Middle East, text by Venetia Porter, London, British Museum, 2006
NAZAR, Photographs from the Arab World, texts by Michket Krifa, Negar Azimi, Isolde Brielmaier and Peter Lewis,New York, Aperture, 2005
Youssef Nabil - Portraits, text by Sunny Rahbar, Dubai, The Third Line, 2005
Regards des photographes arabes contemporains, texte de Nabil Naoum, Paris, Institut du monde arabe, 2005
Bamako 03 - Fotografia Africana Contemporania, texts by Simon Njami and Negar Azimi, Barcelona, MACBA, 2004
Cinquièmes Rencontres de la photographie africaine - Rites sacrés, rites profanes, texte de Simon Njami, AFAA, 2003
"Les Méditerranées", Area revues, no 5, textes de Olivier Gaulon et Alin Avila, Paris, 2003
Rencontres internationales de la photographie, Arles, textes de Francois Hebel et Michket Krifa, Arles, Actes Sud, 2003
Modern Egyptian Art 1910-2003, text by Liliane Karnouk, Cairo, American University in Cairo Press, 2003
Youssef Nabil, Cairo, Townhouse Gallery, 2002
Youssef Nabil - Obsesiones, text by Martha Zamora, Mexico City, Centro de la Imagen, 2001
Arts and The Islamic World - Egypt, the Arts in View, text by James Parry, 2001
Youssef Nabil - Premiere, Cairo, Cairo-Berlin Art Gallery, 1999

 

Videos:

2021The Beautiful Voyage
With Charlotte Rampling and Youssef Nabil
8 mins
2016Arabian Happy Ending
28 mins
2015I Saved My Belly Dancer
With Salma Hayek and Tahar Rahim
12 mins
2010You Never Left
With Fanny Ardant and Tahar Rahim
8 mins

 

Awards & Recognitions:

2022Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Ministry of Culture, France.
2021Artist of the Year/ Man of the Year Award, GQ Magazine, U.A.E.
2003The Seydou Keita Prize for Portraiture, Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie, Bamako, Mali.

 

Residencies:

2003Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France.

 

Acquisitions:

Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami, U.S.A.
Collection François Pinault, Paris, France.
The Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris, France.
The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, U.S.A.
La Maison Européenne de La photographie, Paris, France.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA, LA, U.S.A.
The Orlando Museum of Art, Florida, U.S.A.
The British Museum, London, U.K.
The Victoria & Albert Museum, London, U.K.
The Guggenheim Museum, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar.
Sindika Dokolo Foundation, Luanda, Angola.
SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA, U.S.A
Centro De La Imagen, Mexico City, Mexico.
Musée Réattu, Arles, France
UBS Art Collection, Zurich, Switzerland
Musées de Marseille, Marseille, France.
Barjeel Art Foundation, U.A.E.
Museum of Photography, Thessaloniki, Greece.