Thameur Mejri Tunisian, b. 1982

Born 1982. Tunis, Tunisia

Lives and works Nabeul,Tunisia

Thameur Mejri investigates complexities of human existence by identifying parallels between paradoxical ideas of violence, innocence, guilt and shame. He blurs the boundaries between public and private in an effort to confront individual and collective values, particularly in contemporary Tunisian society. Mejri examines what happens in the painting and through the painting, where indifference bids farewell, and affect becomes activated; it strikes back with force.

The human figure acts as a central element throughout his compositions, the vigorous manner in which Mejri places the figure onto the canvas, reflects the relationship between painting and painter, suggesting self-portraits that battle to fully emerge and reveal themselves. There is an interplay between painting and film. He approaches painting as a film director and he films with the vision of a painter, allowing for the qualities of each discipline to manifest upon one another; the chaos and movement in his paintings are a testament of this. Through his drawings, vast compositions on stretched or floating canvases as well as murals, Thameur Mejri’s works question the notions of humanism and the construction of human beings on a social scale, by representing several paradoxes that emerge from political and cultural practices.

He graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts in Tunis, and he is currently teaching at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Nabeul.

He has exhibited widely, including the 13th Cairo Biennial, Cairo, Egypt / Dakar Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar, Senegal / N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Detroit, USA / New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, New York, USA / Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) L.I., New York, USA. He also has had solo exhibitions at Jack Bell Gallery, London, UK / Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana / Selma Feriani Gallery, Tunis, Tunisia / B7L9 Art Station. The Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis, Tunisia / MAC Lyon, Lyon, Paris / Montague Contemporary, New York, USA / Uitstalling Art Gallery, Genk, Belgium.

Mejri’s work forms part of many prestigious collections of art, including Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE / The Sindika Dokolo Foundation, Luanda, Angola / Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon / The New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, USA / The Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL), Marrakech, Morocco / The Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis, Tunisia.