February 2024

Spanning across mediums from sculpture to computer programs, perfumes to performances, artist Adham Faramawy’s work draws on the visual and aural language of promoting to explore how media consumption within the digital age influences identity construction and perceptions of the body. A recurring theme in Adham’s work sees people, sometimes himself, inhabiting business scenarios which then take a surreal turn. Performance piece “Total Flex,” for instance, is a take-off on instructional work out videos wherein footage of a unadorned man exercising is layered onto psychedelic visual effects. Meanwhile, “Make Up Tutorial,” released earlier this yr, takes the shape of the YouTube beauty tutorial because it’s place to begin before starting to unravel into nonsense dialogue as slime and foam devour each...