Sugar lift aquatint
56 x 40 cm [22 x 15.7 inches]
Edition of 20, signed and numbered recto.
Produced by the artist with Sebening & Ulke, Intaglio Printshop Munich.
About the work
Susan Hefuna’s edition for Whitechapel Gallery is one in a series of ‘Cityscapes’, made previously in Istanbul and New York. Cityscape Munich, 2015 is an etching made by the artist in Munich and, for Hefuna, is a direct response to her surroundings. She describes arriving at Munich train station at a time when the station was crowded with Syrian refugees and children entering Germany from Austria. The colour blue is significant for it is found all over Munich, as the colour of Bavaria. For Hefuna it is important that the print is composed with the same directness as her drawings. Instead of the image deriving from an existing sketch, the artist has drawn directly onto two etching plates in two layers, which are then printed. This process, for Hefuna, captures the ‘freshness of the moment’.
About the artist
Through photography, drawing, sculpture, video and site-specific installations, Hefuna examines notions of boundaries, networks and structures that inhabit public space. More specifically, she examines how these systems become the framework for peoples’ interactions with each other, made visible through – amongst other things – cultural customs, architectural modes and city planning. Many of her compositions recall crude weaves or embroidery, molecular structures, or the intricacies of traditional wooden mashrabiya screens from Cairo. Hefuna’s personal encounters and experiences often surface as an influence in or as the subject of her work. Growing up in a Christian and Muslim household and between Germany and Egypt, Hefuna’s diverse affinities come through in the way she composes her work.
Selected Exhibitions
Hefuna has shown internationally, including as part of the Barjeel Art Foundation Collection: Imperfect Chronology at Whitechapel Gallery, which feature Hefuna’s works in Mapping The Contemporary II, on display 23 August 2016 - 8 January 2017; a project with London’s Serpentine Gallery and Cairo’s Townhouse Gallery in 2010-2011, and solo exhibitions at the Sharjah Art Foundation in 2014, the New Museum, New York, 2014, Pi Artworks, Istanbul, 2011, and the Louvre, Paris, 2004.
Susan Hefuna lives and works in Cairo, Egypt, Düsseldorf, Germany and New York, USA and is currently represented by Pi Artworks in London and Istanbul and the Rhona Hoffman Gallery in Chicago.
Whitechapel Gallery editions are generously donated by the artists. All proceeds from the sale of these works directly support our exhibition and education programmes.
Works can be purchased with Own Art, allowing you to spread the cost of your purchase over 10 months, completely interest free.
Typical 0% APR. Subject to status. Terms and conditions apply. Applicants must be at least 18 years old. Whitechapel Gallery is a licensed broker of Own Art loans. Registered address: Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, London, E1 7QX.
We work with contemporary conservation framers Frame London to provide the best framing options for your edition. Contact us for more information.
