(also spelled Shant Avédissian)
Born: Cairo, Egypt, 1951
Died: Cairo, Egypt, 2018
Country of Origin: Egypt (of Armenian descent)
Medium(s):
• Stenciled painting on cardboard and wood panels
• Photography
• Textile and costume design
• Installation
• Graphic design
Key Themes in Their Work:
Chant Avedissian’s oeuvre is a vibrant exploration of Arab cultural identity, visual heritage, and postcolonial aesthetics. Drawing from his Egyptian-Armenian roots, his work blends nostalgia with critique, reviving visual codes from Egypt’s golden age of cinema, music, and nationalist fervor. Key thematic concerns include:
• Pan-Arabism and cultural nationalism
• Revival of popular iconography from the 1940s–1960s (notably Umm Kulthum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Soad Hosny, etc.)
• The aesthetics of ephemera—poster art, textiles, packaging, cinema stills
• Hybrid identities and postcolonial modernity
• Traditional Islamic geometry and craft practices (especially influenced by Moroccan zellige and Persian design)
• The democratization of art through accessible mediums (e.g., stenciled works on cardboard)
Avedissian’s hallmark works—particularly his Icons of the Nile series—combine stencil techniques with bold color fields and layered cultural references, turning popular figures into modern hieroglyphs of collective memory. His use of materials like cardboard nods to both a critique of elitist art institutions and a deep reverence for everyday material culture.
Notable Exhibitions or Collections Their Work Is Part Of:
Solo & Group Exhibitions:
• Venice Biennale, National Pavilion of Egypt (1993)
• Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
• The British Museum, London
• Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
• Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (acquisitions, not yet on public view)
• Sharjah Art Museum, UAE
• Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah
• Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
• Townhouse Gallery, Cairo
Permanent Collections:
• The British Museum (London)
• The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
• Barjeel Art Foundation (Sharjah)
• National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution (Washington D.C.)
• Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts (Amman)
• Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris)
Avedissian’s work has become highly collectible posthumously, with growing institutional attention and increasing auction presence. His stenciled works have come to symbolize a visual archive of Arab popular history and modernism in the region.
