Tarek Zaki

Monument X (2007) by Tarek Zaki, consists of cement sculptures laid out as if they were found in the show yard of a contemporary plasterworks factory which produces neoclassical sculptures and architectural items, or like freshly found archaeological remains, waiting to be identified, tagged and put on permanent display. There is the sense that this will never actually happen and that the parts – reminiscent of architectural components such as broken columns, and fragments of equestrian sculptures – will remain in an indeterminate state. A wealth of associations spring to mind as one looks at Monument X. One wonders about why the supposed archaeological finds reference Egypt’s neo-classical past, as opposed to its more commonly acclaimed Pharaonic or Islamic past, seemingly challenging Western essentialist narratives linking the classical world to Western cultural heritage. This association is fleeting as others take its place – when looking at Monument X, one is reminded of bourgeois neo-classical kitsch aesthetic equally widespread in the East as in the West, as well as of the coincidence that this aesthetic is also shared by the architecture of tyranny as represented in Italian fascist sculptures or in Saddam’s monuments. Through his work, Zaki questions the permanence and authority of monuments, as well as their claim to national and geographic ownership, by forming shapes and objects that we recognise, but cannot place. It is as though they have returned to the present (in contemporary Egypt or otherwise) from an unknown future and a lost past. As the sculpture installations merge into the surrounding context of the gallery, they appear, for a moment, to have found a home.
 
Tarek Zaki was born 1975, and lives and works in Cairo and New York. Tarek Zaki’s work deals with such themes as the passage of time, civilizations, memory and the representation of history and the past. By creating monuments, museums and artifacts (as sculpture installations), Zaki interrogates how contemporary and future generations read the past. The idea of a museum as an institution of historical facts is made ambiguous and blurred as the objects he exhibits are themselves often unclear. This lack of a defining truth leads the viewer to create stories and theories that are superimposed onto reality. Zaki uses polyester, plaster and concrete to create his objects and structures. His work is both monumental and detail-oriented. Zaki’s recent shows include: Mythologies at the Haunch of Venison in London; Collection Dubai at the SMART Project Space in Amsterdam; Museum as Hub at the The New Museum in New York; Monument X at the Townhouse Gallery in Cairo; and Out of Place at Galerie Sfeir-Semler in Beirut. He has recently been shortlisted for a public art commission by Percent for Art in New York.