Marwan Rechmaoui

Artist

Biography

Born in Beirut in 1964 Marwan Rechmaoui is best known for a series of sculptural works that replicate buildings and topography.

For the 7th Sharjah Biennial in 2005, Rechmaoui presented Beirut Caoutchouc (2004), a large rubber floor map of the city of Beirut.  This piece was again presented in Disorientation II along with A Monument for the Living (2001), a large scale architectural model of the derelict 1970s high-rise that towers over downtown Beirut a constant reminder of its dark history of military usage during the Lebanese Civil War.

Rechmaoui’s work is concerned with the dynamics of urban space, its transformation through time and issues of civil life, migration, borders and demographics. A slow and labour-intensive quality emphasizes the materiality of the four large-scale works this artist has created and recreated over the past decade.

Rechmaoui’s work has been shown in exhibitions including  Beirut Art Center, Lebanon (2010), Disorientation II, The Rise and Fall of Arab Cities, Abu Dhabi (2009), Saatchi Gallery, London (2009), Musee d’Art Contemporain de Nimes, France (2008), Darat al Funun, Jordan ( 2008), Sharjah Biennial (2005), Bienal de Sao Paulo, Brazil (2006), and Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (2002). His work is in the collections of Tate, London, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, and Saatchi Gallery, London. Rechmaoui lives and works in Beirut.
October 2010

 

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