Ahmed Morsi is a writer, set designer, and visual artist who has dedicated much of his practice to painting. This self-portrait from 1970 exemplifies his research as a visual artist: this image plays with painting, the human body, and depiction. The figure holds its frame in a game of metalanguage that permeates Morsi’s trajectory as a visual artist. In this painting within a painting, we notice how the artist plays with the idea of abstraction when he juxtaposes a circle and areas of colour on his body that place him in conversation with many artists interested in abstraction. It is a self-portrait of Morsi, who, more than a painter, was a commentator on his generation’s art history.
This is the first time the work of Ahmed Morsi is presented at Biennale Arte.
—Raphael Fonseca
