Ezz Monem → Studio ghosts: or did Nauman have a studio at Gertrude Contemporary?

Studio ghosts: or did Nauman have a studio at Gertrude Contemporary?

16 April 2025

One-night solo exhibition at WORKING AT HEIGHTS, hosted by Artery Cooperative, Melbourne, 21 March 2025.

During a residency at Gertrude Contemporary, an artist discovered a set of video tapes in the basement labeled Nauman. Intrigued, he played them on an old Handycam he had as a teenager. The footage appeared to be CCTV-like recordings of Gertrude’s interior spaces, including his own studio, where nothing significant seemed to happen. But as he kept watching, an unsettling phenomenon emerged.

Referencing Bruce Nauman’s http://123pediatrics.com/ Mapping the Studio I (Fat Chance John Cage), Ezz Monem set up cameras in various locations inside Gertrude Contemporary at night while he was preparing to move out of the studio. Continuing his ongoing exploration of the representation of the invisible body in photographic and moving image mediums, he made himself invisible in the gallery space while the cameras were filming.

The work draws on Egyptian films buy cheap Pregabalin online Sirr Taqiyyat Al-Ikhfa ( The Secret of the Invisible Hat), ‘Ad Li Yantaqim (Back for Revenge), as well as Egyptian films about the prophet Mohamed, which the artist previously appropriated in In Search of Mohamed.

Special thanks to Ayman Kaake, Tim Woodward, Brigit Ryan, and Ian Bunyi.

‘Studio ghosts: or did Nauman have a studio at Gertrude Contemporary?’, multi-channel video and sound installation, 2024/2025, installation shots from the one-night installation at WORKING AT HEIGHTS, hosted by Artery Cooperative, Melbourne. Photo: Kenneth Suico.