Maha Maamoun: Lingering in Vicinity

Maha Maamoun's solo exhibition at Gypsum Gallery brings together two works she produced within the span of ten years. 'Cairoscapes' (2003) is a series of large-scale horizontal photographs and 'Shooting Stars Remind me of Eavesdroppers' (2013) is Maamoun’s most recent single-channel video. Seen together, the two works propose aesthetic, formal and conceptual threads that run through Maamoun’s practice. Maamoun’s videos and photographs often address the form and function of images that are found in mainstream culture. Her work acts as a lens through which audiences might see familiar images in novel and insightful ways. She does that by making subtle interventions in photographic material that she captures on camera or borrows from various sources. Through an unusual crop, a seamless edit, an odd juxtaposition, an incongruent photomontage, a staged remake, Maamoun shakes up audiences' expectations and toys with their perception.