Tanbouli's work is narrative, biographical, communicative and often humorous. Both characters and places in his work are a dream like rendering of all the people he knew and all the places he travelled to, yet his works often contain many global themes and symbols which make them both non-culturally specific and widely appealing. Combining technical mastership with a childhood imagination, Tanbouli manages to bridge the gap between a multitude of cultures and generations.
Personal Data
Born in Alexandria in 1971. Tanbouli started drawing and painting at the tender age of three and has never stopped. He worked as a painter, muralist, illustrator and graphic designer before moving to the UK in 2002 where he has lived since. He also works frequently in Alexandria.
Education
He studied art and design at Alexandria University, Academy of Fine Arts, between 1989 and 1994.
In 2010 he was awarded the MFA from Camberwell College of Arts, the University of the Arts London, where he studied book art and printmaking.
Awards and Achievements
He was awarded, from the University of the Arts in London, the Creative enterprise award 2012” for founding and managing the artist run space STUDO75-LONDON.
2010 Bainbridge Award for Printmaking.
2006 Juliet Gomperts Trust Award.
1993 Grand Drawing Prize, Artist of the Year, National Salon of Youth, Egypt
Exhibitions
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2018 Dancing canvases, Mashrabia Gallery Cairo
2016 Drawing Exhibition, French Cultural Institute Alexandria
2015 "Remains of Old Albums" Artlounge Cairo
2014 "Full Circle: Drawings And Live Performance" Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt
2014 "Full Circle: Paintings" Wekalet Behna, Alexandria
2014 "Black Books" Westminster Central Art and Design Library, London
2013 "Orientophobia" Hackney Downs Studios London
2011 "Keeping Afloat" La Clinica Mundana, Valencia Spain
2011 Book Art, Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
2010 “Paper Murals” Wilson Road Gallery, Camberwell College of Art
2009 "Baptism of Hailstones" Surface Gallery, Nottingham.
2008 "Private Nightmares" Redgate Gallery, London.
2008 "Constructed Mythologies" Whitewall, Milton Keynes Contemporary.
2006 "Men and Insects" solo mural project. Rich & Famous Gallery, London.
2006 Solo exhibition, De Montfort Hall, Leicester.
2005 "Nazir Tanbouli" Solo exhibition, Factory-Berlin, Berlin.
2005 “3 Films by Nazir Tanbouli” The Collection, Usher Gallery, Lincoln.
2003 Solo exhibition, Art Exchange Gallery, Nottingham.
2002 Solo exhibition, De Montfort Hall, Leicester.
2001 Solo exhibition, Palace of Art Appreciation, Alexandria, Egypt.
Projects
Selected Drawing performances
2016 "Drawing Performance" The World Museum, Liverpool
2016 "Drawing Performance" The Bluecoat Liverpool
2015 "Drawing Performance" The British Museum, London
2015 "Drawing Performance" Chelsea Theatre, Shubbak Festival London
2014 “Bright Spaces” Kuwait Marina, for GREAT British Week
2013 "Draw to Perform" Performance Space London
2013 Nazir Tanbouli at "Quoz Happens", The Jamjar, Dubai UAE
2012 "The End of the World" MS Stubnitz, berthed in London
Selected Mural Painting Projects
2014 The Alexandria Mural, Teatro Alexandria, Egypt
2013 The Paint Factory Mural, Bootstrap, London
2012 The King's Land Murals, London
2011 “Haggerston Mural” Whiston Road London
2007 "The Nottingham Mural" New Art Exchange, Nottingham.
2005 “Urban History” City Arts Nottingham.
Studio 75 London Artist-run Centre (artist and curator) 2010-2013
Drawing School, Alexandria 2015 Supported by the British Council Egypt
Selected Group Exhibitions
2017 "Art at the Egyptian Museum" Egyptian Museum, Cairo
2017 "Triumvirate" Mojo Gallery, Dubai
2013 "The Wall" Hackney Downs Studios, London
2012 "Vinyl" Cultivate Vyner Street, London
2011 7th Moscow Book Art Fair
2010 "The Freaks" Shoreditch Town Hall, London
2010 "Seven Men in London Town" Redgate Gallery, London.
2009 "Beyond Borders: London and New York" AEStudios Gallery, New York City.
2009 "Tales from the Electric Forest" St Pancras Crypt Gallery, London.
2009 “Prospero's Library”, Accademia di Belle Arte, Catania, Italia.
2008 "Postindustrial Baroque" Globe City, Newcastle upon Tyne.
2008 "Next we change Earth" New Art Exchange, Nottingham.
2008 "Digital media 1.0" La Nau, Valencia.
2007 "Coldstore," Kühlhaus am Gleisdreieck, Berlin.
2007 "Prospero's Library" Moscow Central House of Artists, and touring.
2006 "Transpositions" Conjunction 06, Works Gallery, Birmingham
2006 "Lighten Up" Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge
2005 “Urban Clearance” Gallery PS2 & site-specific, Belfast
2004 “Tiefenrauch Ost” Group Exhibition. T.R.O. Factory-Berlin. Berlin.
2004 Group Exhibition, Nottingham Castle
2004 Trio Exhibition, Blackfriars Art Centre, Boston.
2002 Group exhibition, Art Exchange Gallery Nottingham.
2001 Group exhibition, Goethe Institute, Alexandria.
2000 & 2001 Cairo Festival of Contemporary Art, Townhouse Gallery Cairo
1996 Cairo International Biennale, Cairo.
1995 International Biennale of Young Artists, Argentina.
1993 - 1995 National Salon of Youth, Cairo.
