Special Event: Closing Ceremony & Book Launch Artist Talk between Mandy El-Sayegh and Gareth Longstaff
Thursday 30 November 2023, 6:30pm
On the occasion of the closing of Mandy El-Sayegh‘s exhibition «In Session» at Tichy Ocean Foundation, and to celebrate the launch of the recently published catalogue «SUPERIMPOSITION», the Foundation is honoured to host an intimate conversation between El-Sayegh and special guest Dr Gareth Longstaff.
The catalogue not only documents the artist‘s latest exhibitions but provides an in-depth view of El-Sayegh‘s artistic process. Alongside an essay by Dr Gareth Longstaff, the book also features an exclusive interview between the artist and Hans Ulrich Obrist.
In conversation with Dr Gareth Longstaff, Mandy El-Sayegh will explain her working methodology. This artist talk is a rare opportunity to discover El-Sayegh‘s body of work, and discuss her practice, research and collaborations.
«In Session» is Mandy El-Sayegh‘s first solo show in Switzerland, for which she created a sweeping installation reimagining the consulting room of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. El-Sayegh assembles objects such as an antique examination couch, Persian rugs and a shelf displaying personal artefacts, mirroring ‚Oriental‘ objects which fascinated Freud. These curiosities, each of which is loaded with its own history and embedded power relations, open a topography of memoria and the power it holds upon societies and how bodies keep the score. Her artistic approach follows the Lacanian terminology of „arbitrary contingents“ and draws from the deep atlas of the subconscious.
Mandy El-Sayegh
Born in Malaysia in 1985, Mandy El-Sayegh experienced diverse cultural environments due to her Malaysian-Palestinian background. In 2009, she completed an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art in London, where she continues to live and work. Her works are held by significant collections, such as Tate and Sharjah Art Foundation, and she has held major exhibitions worldwide.
Dr Gareth Longstaff
Dr Gareth Longstaff is a lecturer in media and cultural theory at Newcastle University. His research interests are primarily concerned with sexuality, celebrity and pornography culture, including (self) representation in visual cultures. Herein he closely engages with queer theoretical critique and Lacanian psychoanalysis to examine these dimensions of social experiences.
