Jeune tête d’affiche 2023-2024
Mena El Shazly
Hyperopia is inspired by the Crystalist artist movement in Sudan, whose 1976 manifesto states, “The crystal is nothing but the denial of the objectification of objects. It is infinite transparency.” Adopting the movement’s intent to undo contradictions between semblance and essence, the project examines the value of image decay and attitudes toward cultural appropriation. Utilizing matrix-based media, namely the digital pixel, patterns are exposed and recycled. Repetitive and indulgent scrolling, zooming and swiping reveal cyclical fractions and infinite extensions. The work is dense with second-hand images, glitch and compression techniques, and the use of the color blue. While in the analog circuit blue means no signal, it is also “the closest embodiment of Crystalism within the color spectrum” and “has the ability to create a Crystalist vision.”
Mena El Shazly is a time-based media artist whose practice is concerned with light-sensitive surfaces, entropy, archival bodies and sites of memory. She is completing an MFA at the School for the Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, studied performing and visual arts at the American University in Cairo, and was a fellow of the Home Workspace Program at Ashkal Alwan, Beirut. Her work has been showcased at venues including Contemporary Image Collective (Cairo), VIVO Media Arts (Vancouver) and House of The World Cultures (Berlin). She is the Artistic Director of the Cairo Video Festival organized by Medrar for Contemporary Art.
Jeune tête d’affiche contest
Mena El Shazly is the recipient of the 2023-2024 Jeune tête d’affiche contest. This annual contest, dedicated to image-based practices, is open to students of Canadian universities and/or Canadian students abroad who are completing their graduate degree in Fine Arts in the spring or fall of 2023.
The selected artist will have their image featured in Dazibao’s programming pamphlet and receive an award in the amount of $500. This brochure benefits from a large distribution locally, nationally, and internationally, thus giving the selected image to considerable exposure.
Past recipients
(Click on the image to view previous posters)
OK Pedersen (2022-2023) / Jordan Blackburn (2021-2022) / John Boyle-Singfield (2020-2021) / Zinnia Naqvi (2019-2020) / Ralitsa Doncheva (2018-2019) / Emma-Kate Guimond (2017-2018) / Simon Belleau (2016-2017) / Celia Perrin Sidarous (2015-2016) / Didier Morelli (2014-2015) / Rosika Desnoyers (2013-2014) / Alex Kisilevich (2011-2012) / Juan Ortiz-Apuy (2010-2011) / Karen Zalamea (2009-2010) / Atom Deguire (2008-2009)
Dazibao thanks the artist for her generous collaboration as well as its advisory committee for their support.
Dazibao receives financial support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts de Montréal, the ministère de la Culture et des Communications and the Ville de Montréal.
Dazibao acknowledges that it is located on the unceded territory of the Kanien'kehá: ka Nation and that Tiohtiá:ke / Montreal is historically known as a gathering place for many First Nations, and today, is home to a diverse population of Indigenous as well as other peoples. Guided by ethics of respect, listening, and awareness, Dazibao commits to a continued reflection regarding the deep-rooted and systemic challenges tied to accessibility and inclusivity in the arts and beyond, and endeavors to apply such reflections to all aspects of its activities and governance.