Yasser Aggour

Ligature Series: Nehru, John Wayne, Mao & Nasser
2005, Inkjet prints, 40" x 30" each

"Throughout much of the lesser developed parts of the world, it is still far more cost-efficient to non-mechanically reproduce images through sign painting cottage industries. I found it ironic that images of celluloid celebrities and politicians promising a better tomorrow are rendered in a rather awkward but endearing antediluvian manner. These portraits suggest historical paintings in the romantic European tradition leavened with a pop art sensibility. And like much of pop art, once one goes beyond the flippant nostalgia and desire on the surface, something rather sad is revealed.
These images have been painted by billboard artists in Cairo from photographs I selected. These are not collaborations; I am simply utilizing the logic of capitalism to outsource image-making to cheaper labor markets. When I receive the paintings, I photograph and digitally manipulate them, further metabolizing the economic and aesthetic cycles."