Mariane Ibrahim is pleased to announce representation in the Americas of Youssef Nabil. Born in Cairo in 1972, Nabil’s work draws deeply from the visual language and emotional resonance of Egyptian cinema’s golden age. Known for his distinctive hand-colored photography, Nabil revives the rich palette of early technicolor film—an obsolete process whose saturated hues and nostalgic tones echo in his images. His use of color is both personal and historical, evoking the hand-painted film posters that once, and throughout the artist’s childhood, lined the streets of Cairo.
Deeply informed by Egypt’s foundational role in global and Arab cinema, Nabil’s work often engages with themes of longing and memory. Early in his career, he recreated scenes from classic Egyptian films; over time, this evolved into an expansive reflection on exile and identity. Whether through photography, film, or installation, his work constructs a parallel reality—one that draws on the aesthetics of cinema while evoking personal and collective histories.
“The work of Youssef Nabil has long resonated with me,” said Mariane Ibrahim. “His singular style and emotional depth, as well as his technique—rich with cultural signifiers familiar to my own heritage—have profoundly shaped my engagement with contemporary photography. I have admired his career for many years, and it is a true honor to now work together and bring his practice to the Americas.”
Deeply informed by Egypt’s foundational role in global and Arab cinema, Nabil’s work often engages with themes of longing and memory. Early in his career, he recreated scenes from classic Egyptian films; over time, this evolved into an expansive reflection on exile and identity. Whether through photography, film, or installation, his work constructs a parallel reality—one that draws on the aesthetics of cinema while evoking personal and collective histories.
“The work of Youssef Nabil has long resonated with me,” said Mariane Ibrahim. “His singular style and emotional depth, as well as his technique—rich with cultural signifiers familiar to my own heritage—have profoundly shaped my engagement with contemporary photography. I have admired his career for many years, and it is a true honor to now work together and bring his practice to the Americas.”
The influence of studio portraiture is central to Nabil’s visual language. Early in his career, he encountered Van Leo (Leo Boyadjian), one of Egypt’s most iconic photographers, whose mentorship played an important role in shaping Nabil’s artistic path. Drawing on and subverting the tropes of Orientalist representation, he transforms images into poetic dreamscapes: visions of Egypt not as it was, but as it might have been.
“I am very happy to start working with Mariane Ibrahim,” said Youssef Nabil. “We both share the same vision for our future projects, and I look forward to this new chapter with her as my gallery.”
Through photography, Nabil conjures a sense of suspended time—a poetic elsewhere where Egypt’s cinematic past becomes a symbol of freedom, expression, and interior life. Shaped in part by the artist’s own migration from Egypt, and his life now divided between Paris and New York, his images hover between presence and absence, evoking a quiet tension between departure and return, belonging and dislocation.
Youssef Nabil will hold a solo show in Los Angeles at LACMA from August 24, 2025, to January 11, 2026. Now Showing: Youssef Nabil’s I Saved My Belly Dancer centers on his 2015 video of the same name—recently acquired by the museum—alongside 11 related photographs and a selection of vintage Egyptian film posters. Featuring Salma Hayek and Tahar Rahim in roles that blur personal and cinematic identities, the film unfolds in a dreamlike space, its intensity heightened by Nabil’s signature hand-colored aesthetic.
Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris, Mexico City), will represent Youssef Nabil for the Americas. The artist is also represented by Galerie Nathalie Obadia (Paris, Brussels), and The Third Line (Dubai).
“I am very happy to start working with Mariane Ibrahim,” said Youssef Nabil. “We both share the same vision for our future projects, and I look forward to this new chapter with her as my gallery.”
Through photography, Nabil conjures a sense of suspended time—a poetic elsewhere where Egypt’s cinematic past becomes a symbol of freedom, expression, and interior life. Shaped in part by the artist’s own migration from Egypt, and his life now divided between Paris and New York, his images hover between presence and absence, evoking a quiet tension between departure and return, belonging and dislocation.
Youssef Nabil will hold a solo show in Los Angeles at LACMA from August 24, 2025, to January 11, 2026. Now Showing: Youssef Nabil’s I Saved My Belly Dancer centers on his 2015 video of the same name—recently acquired by the museum—alongside 11 related photographs and a selection of vintage Egyptian film posters. Featuring Salma Hayek and Tahar Rahim in roles that blur personal and cinematic identities, the film unfolds in a dreamlike space, its intensity heightened by Nabil’s signature hand-colored aesthetic.
Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris, Mexico City), will represent Youssef Nabil for the Americas. The artist is also represented by Galerie Nathalie Obadia (Paris, Brussels), and The Third Line (Dubai).
June 20, 2025
