On-my-radar: Mandy El-Sayegh The artist's cultural highlights

By Killian Fox

Mandy El-Sayegh is a British-Malaysian-Palestinian artist born in Selangor, Malaysia, and now based in south London. She received an MA in painting from the Royal College of Art. In 2017 she was shortlisted for the Max Mara art prize for women. Her work often features newspaper and magazine clippings and other documents layered over floors, ceilings and walls to create immersive installations. Her largest exhibition to date opened at Museum Boijmans in Rotterdam earlier this month, and El-Sayegh has just launched a mural commission at the Showroom in west London. 

Dance

Bullyache: Who Hurt You? at the Southbank Centre, London SE1

I went to a show by the artist duo Bullyache a couple of weeks ago and was intrigued to see this new genre-bending type of performance that I didn’t really understand, but which was very exciting. It’s a maximalist collage blending dance culture, queerness and performance. It seemed to be about the experience of working in theatre and dance, and about the lack of funds. Everything is on the verge of collapse. The singing breaks down, they break the fourth wall. Every structure is broken down and reformed. It was a high-octane experience.

Podcast

Why Theory

I play lots of podcasts when I’m working and I’ve been listening to this one, co-hosted by philosopher Todd McGowan, since it started. It uses continental philosophy and psychoanalysis to examine cultural phenomena that are topical and current. I liked their recent episodes on the gaze and the voice, and they did a whole episode in response to the New York Times top 100 films list, where they drew their own top 100. It made me want to watch 13 Going on 30 with Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner – not normally a film I’d seek out but it was interesting to view it through their framework.