- Youssef Nabil , Egyptian B. 1972 Sweet Temptation, Cairo, 1993 Hand-Coloured Gelatin Silver Print
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Literature : Exhibition Catalogue, Mexico City, Centro de La Imagen, Obsesiones, 2001, n.p, illustration of another example in colourExhibition Catalogue, Arles, Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Pour un Moment d'Éternité, 2003, n.p, illustration of another example in colour Exhibition Catalogue, Barcelona, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona MACBA, Bamako 03: Contemporary African Photography, 2004, n.p, illustration of another example in colourExhibition Catalogue, Bern, Kornhausforum ; Bamako, Festival de Bamako, Rites Sacrés, Rites Profanes: Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie, 2003-2004, n.p, illustration of another example in colourExhibition Catalogue, Leeuwaarden, The Fries Museum, Nazar: Noorderlicht, 2004, n.p, illustration of another example in colourExhibition Catalogue, Houston, FotoFest Houston, Arab Eyes, 2005, n.p, illustration of another example in colour Exhibition Catalogue, New York, The Aperture Foundation Gallery, Photographs from the Arab World, 2005, n.p, illustration of another example in colourHatje Cantz Ed., Youssef Nabil -I Won't Let You Die, 2008, illustration of another example in colour
Note : Executed in 1993, this work is number 3 from an edition of 3.Youssef Nabil grew up in a Cairo that treasured the golden age of Egyptian cinema and that echoed with the tunes of the heyday of Egyptian music. Enchanted by the irresistible charm of this bygone era, and by the hand-painted, Technicolor posters and and pictures of this time, Nabil's photographic oeuvre has been largely influenced by its visuals. Youssef Nabil's profound appreciation of the centrality of this time and of its memory to contemporary Egyptian culture has led him to recreate scenes inspired by classic Egyptian cinema and its commanding actresses. Through a sensitive yet twisted nostalgic approach, Nabil lovingly stages overly theatrical compositions of made-up and costumed women who hold gripping poses and intense expressions in dramatically lit, studio-produced settings. In keeping with the traditions of the imagery of this period, the artist delicately hand-tints the resulting black and white photographs which then become somewhere between being pictures, paintings, cinematic moments and essays on the artist's invariable concerns. Breaking free from the practices of conventional portraiture, this part of Nabil's portrait oeuvre does not actually depict his sitters for who they really are. Instead, Nabil's sitters are a pure product of his imagination; they inhabit the world of his dreams and fantasies. But Nabil's images exude an artificiality that is all too betrayed by the ghostliness of his belles. In fact, what Nabil is grasping is an idea, an essence, and a memory of a person and a time that once was. It is his fear of death, finality, and forgetting that drives him to create such carefully studied, romantic scenes, scenes which are meant to immortalize the moment that they depict and freeze in time his femme fatales and what they stand for. In this repertoire of cinema-inspired images, a variety of characters are born, re-born, or, more accurately, kept alive. And it is through this resuscitation of semi-fictitious, semi-real people for fear of their disappearance that Youssef Nabil ponders his relationship to Cairo and Egypt both present and past, Cario's relationship to its previous, more glamorous self, in addition to other more universal questions about life, death, memory, alienation and the dustbin of history. Sweet Temptation belongs to this group of cinema-motivated repertoire. These images were taken by Nabil in the early 1990s with friends who took on roles in scenes written and directed by the artist. The present work portrays the archetypal Egyptian bombshells in a bar setting. A gender-bending Hollywood scene otherwise in line with the legacy of 'Hollywood on the Nile', a risk-taking strong-willed character, unrelenting despite being out of luck, sits centre stage, with a supportive, rational accompaniment by her side who gently urges her to stop. Or so it seems... A still image, Sweet Temptation presents a split-second of tension from an unknown story as the motivating drama and the subject of the leading figure's attention are hinted at but remain unknown. But mostly, Sweet Temptation sheds light on a moment of intimacy, on a special relationship that is revealed through a tender touch and a penetrating look. Furthermore, Youssef Nabil's elaborate constructions depict charged moments in which sex appeal, sexuality, and sexual yearnings are central features conveyed through pucker, pout, or gentle touch. This subtle eroticism and suggestiveness accordifing to Mark Sealy 'contain a sense of waiting that on reflection addresses a deep underlying personal political message that talks to issues of desire and freedom.' (Tracey Emin et al., Youssef Nabil: Sleep in my arms, London 2007, p. 71)
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