Main Partner
Working primarily with marble and glass, Nevine Mahmoud (b. 1988, London) explores the contrast between smooth surfaces and rigid materials. Combining fragility with strength, warmth with coldness, and innocence with sensuality, Mahmoud’s sculptures depict creatures in contorted, twisted positions, exuding a profound sense of vulnerability. This approach allows her to investigate the relationship between vulnerability and surrender, as well as the intense emotions associated with agony. Mahmoud was drawn to stone for its symbolic charge and practical challenges. Through the demanding process of working with this medium, the artist has developed an experimental method that merges classical and contemporary techniques, experimenting with the material’s capacities by integrating traditional handcrafting with modern robotics. At Present Future, Mahmoud unveils her most substantial freestanding marble sculpture to date. The work showcases a headless lynx draped across two specially designed plinths, leaning forward as if crouching defensively or prowling. The biomechanical form of the animal is a metaphorical stand-in for the artist, allowing her to broaden her exploration of themes such as objectification and infantilization.
My current work explores the pleasure and pain of vulnerability, reflected in both formal and material decisions. This series of sculptures offer figurative marble components, prefiguring their assembly into a mechanised whole.
Enjoy a video conversation between Nevine Mahmoud (artist) and Antonia Marsh (gallerist), part of the Present Future section of Artissima Voice Over - Language: ENG - SUB ITA