Yasser Rostom: Egyptian surrealist artist dies aged 54

Contemporary artist was known for fusing surrealism with ancient Egyptian-inspired art

Yasser Rostom used the surealist techniques to comment on geopolitical issues. Pictured: Promise to Return Palestine by Yasser Rostom (2018). Photo: artistrostom / Instagram

Tributes have been paid to the contemporary Egyptian surrealist artist Yasser Rostom following his death at 54.

Rostom was known for his unique visual language that fused ancient Egyptian art with modern imagery through surrealist art. His work was widely regarded as intriguing, unsettling, provocative and witty.

Egyptian gallery ArtTalks, who represented Rostom in three solo exhibitions, posted on its Instagram account: "It is with immense sadness that ArtTalks bids farewell to the brilliant contemporary surrealist Egyptian artist Yasser Rostom.

"It is a sad day for Egypt's art scene and hundreds of posts are not enough to cover his rich repertoire and pay tribute to his legacy."

Rostom was born in 1971 and graduated from the Helwan University’s Art Education faculty in 1996. Throughout his life, he earned two master's degrees – one in interior architecture and another in painting and sculpture – and in 2005 he received a PhD in painting from the Domus Academy in Milan.

“I first came across the work of Yasser Rostom around the 2011 Egyptian Revolution,” author and arts patron Sultan Al Qassemi told The National.

“Yasser employed surrealist motifs in political works such as his Snakes and Ladders painting which depicted the change of power between the various Egyptian political forces. Yasser also depicted many historical regional figures, including Gamal Abdel Nasser, Um Kulthoum and King Faisal, which allowed his work to be appreciated by people interested in political representation of 20th and 21st century events in the Arab world.”

Heavily influenced by the methodology of the surrealist artists who gained prominence during the 1930s, Rostom was particularly inspired by the works of the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali.

The movement was primarily focused on exploring the unconscious mind, rebelling against rationalism and the traditional norms of artistic practice through unconventional techniques and the combination of irrational imagery. Surrealist artists and their work flourished in Europe between the two world wars, most likely as a reaction against the horrors of World War I and the societal pressure to conform. They aimed to revolutionise the human experience through their art by connecting it to the unconscious mind.

Rostom recognised and aligned himself with these same artistic principles and mirrored surrealist artists' dedication to technique and craftsmanship. After first being exposed to the movement in his university years through an exhibition of Dali’s work in Cairo, Rostom employed their style into his practice as a means to explore and comment on contemporary geopolitical and socio-political issues.

“I express everyday situations in a surrealistic style,” Rostom previously said in an interview with Egyptian art gallery Nebet Gallery. “Surrealism is a mix between fantasy and realism. The imagery of the unconscious mind is expressed as if it is real. It (exists) far from scientific laws, so the art work is visionary.”

For Rostom, the idea behind the work and the techniques to conceptualise and create art are intrinsically connected. Using pen, ink and paint on paper, Rostom continuously created images and scenes composed of recognisable elements and public figures such as political personalities, celebrities and characters from mainstream media. He then combined those with some of the artistic principles and the images and iconography of ancient pharaonic Egyptian art.

“This is the beauty in surrealism as it uses unrealistic objects to shed light on other realistic ones,” he once said. “Its beauty lies in speaking [about the world] through symbolism and so does ancient Egyptian art. I was able to blend the symbolism of ancient Egyptian art with that in surrealism. Then I created an Egyptian surrealism using our motifs, language and topics which created a combination between classic and modernity in a surrealistic style.”

Rostom has exhibited his work in Egypt and in private exhibitions and collections across the region in Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria and the UAE as well as internationally in France, the UK, US, Portugal, Australia and Germany.