BASIM MAGDY

Basim Magdy (b. 1977 in Assiut, Egypt) lives and works in Basel, Switzerland, as an artist and filmmaker. His films, paintings and photographic works are layered with poetic gestures and unusual observations that allude to absurdity as a daily occurrence. His work colorfully mixes fiction with historical references and collective delusion embedded with humor– all of which seem to be trapped inside a confused sense of time where the past, present and future constantly switch places.  

His work appeared recently in solo exhibitions at museums such as Röda Sten Konsthall, Gothenburg Sweden (2022); MuHKA, Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Belgium (2020); MAAT Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon, Portugal (2019); La Kunsthalle Mulhouse, Mulhouse, France (2019); MCA Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA (2020); MAXXI National Museum of the 21st Century Arts, Rome, Italy (2016); Jeu de Paume, Paris, France (2016); Arnolfini, Bristol, UK (2017); CAPC Museum of Contemporary Art, Bordeaux, France (2016); Deutsche Bank KunstHalle, Berlin, Germany (2016); Art in General, New York, USA (2004) and in group shows at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA (2019, 2015, 2005); Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (2017, 2011); Castello di Rivoli, Torino, Italy (2017); New Museum Triennial, New York, USA (2015); Istanbul Biennial (2013); Sharjah Biennial (2013); Athens Biennial (2018); GIBCA Gothenburg (2017); SeMA Media City Seoul Biennial (2014); KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany (2015); The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, USA (2015); Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland (2015); Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, USA (2013) and Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2012).

Magdy won the Abraaj Art Prize, Dubai (2014) and he was selected Deutsche Bank’s 2016 Artist of the Year. His work is in the collections of MoMA Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA; Guggenheim, New York, USA; MCA Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, USA; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada; MAXXI - Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy; Castello di Rivoli - Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Torino, Italy; MuHKA, Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Belgium; Deutsche Bank Collection, Germany; Sharjah Art Foundation; ARTER, Istanbul, Turkey among others.

Basim Magdy was represented by KÖNIG GALERIE from 2020 to 2022.

Basim Magdy (b. 1977 in Assiut, Egypt) lives and works in Basel, Switzerland, as an artist and filmmaker. His films, paintings and photographic works are layered with poetic gestures and unusual observations that allude to absurdity as a daily occurrence. His work colorfully mixes fiction with historical references and collective delusion embedded with humor– all of which seem to be trapped inside a confused sense of time where the past, present and future constantly switch places.  

EXHIBITIONS