Lisson Gallery at Art Week Riyadh 2025
4 April 2025
For Art Week Riyadh 2025, Lisson Gallery is delighted to present work by Egyptian artist Wael Shawky from his series, The Gulf Project Camp. The presentation will feature a monumental carved wood wall work, fantastical bronze sculptures and a suite of ink and oil drawings.
Shawky creates powerful and profoundly relevant works that re-present history through an alternate lens, reflecting on significant moments through epic, intoxicating films, paintings, carvings and sculptures that feature surreal landscapes and painted backdrops. Telling tales from the complex history of Shawky’s native region, his works invite analysis into collective belief systems, from faith to the recording of history.
Shawky began working on The Gulf Project Camp in 2016, a project which culminated in a major new film series, entitled The Gulf Project. Focusing on the history of the Arab Peninsula from the 17th century to the present day, the research charts the development of the region and the transformation of urbanism in Gulf societies by following the histories of the major ruling families. Lisson’s presentation at Art Riyadh showcases works which explore many of the themes central to this developing project, looking at this period through the lens of migration, trade, economy, religion and tribal alliances. As with previous bodies of work – including Cabaret Crusades (2010-15) and Al Araba Al Madfuna (2012-15) – Shawky references historical documents and artefacts, but as a platform to create a layered, alternative approach to an existing narrative.
Central to the presentation is The Gulf Project Camp: Carved wood (after ‘Hajj (Panoramic Overview of Mecca)’ by Andreas Magnus Hunglinger, 1803), 2019, an intricately carved wooden relief made from wood dated between 400 and 2000 years old depicting the site of Mecca. Rather than illustrating the familiar scene of pilgrims flocking to the religious site, Shawky removes all figures, focusing entirely on the political and historical significance of the architecture, and imbuing this landscape with a mystical and spiritual ambience through the presence of select mythical creatures.
Alongside this piece and within the shimmering, theatrical environment which echoes the adventures of his films, are Shawky’s bronze sculptures which fuse architectural and zoomorphic references, creating works which entangle the mythological and the tangible, a cornerstone of Shawky’s practice. The installation creates the backdrop for a familiar yet illusory world, where historical sites, political figures and fantastical creatures co-exist.
Finally, Shawky’s delicate drawings, rendered in graphite, pigments, ink and oil, a body of work seen previously at Sharjah Art Foundation, appear as a fundamental aspect of Shawky’s practice, acting as a vehicle for storytelling, where fictions can become realities. These works similarly depict recognisable scenes and figures from history, encouraging us to acknowledge the blurred boundary between real and imagined, and reassess what we consider to be fact and truth.
Image: Wael Shawky, The Gulf Project Camp: Carved wood (after ‘Hajj (Panoramic Overview of Mecca)’ by Andreas Magnus Hunglinger, 1803), 2019, Oil on carved wood, 250 x 400 x 15 cm, 98 3/8 x 157 1/2 x 5 7/8 in © Wael Shawky, Courtesy Lisson Gallery
