REDUX
REDUX
Dexter Navy26 Sep - 30 Sep 2024
Exhibition continues at 19 Cork Street lower ground until Nov 10th
PRESS RELEASE
Redux presents an exploration of Egypt, through the lens of Dexter Navy (b.1991). More than a return to one’s homeland, it is an ongoing pilgrimage of rediscovery that blends personal perspectives with broader cultural reflections. Navy describes Egypt as a place that always lingered in his dreams, a borderland where dreams and reality overlap. “Imagine finding a world that matches your imagination,” he reflects, recalling vivid imagery of his childhood. “Imagine being able to revisit that world in a dream, and that dream making sense in the current world.” For Navy, Egypt is not only a place where dreams are born—it is where dreams are realised. His photographs reflect this sense of magical realism, where the landscapes of Egypt, whether ancient or contemporary, are seen through a psychedelic lens of imagination and personal vision.
The photographs are more than just visual documents of his journey—they are entries in a diary, snapshots of a life and mind that span time and space to remind him and the viewers of what it means to be Egyptian. “Everything I make is for me,” he explains. “It’s my personal diary, capturing memories that are mine to revisit.” Tracing his movement across Egypt—from the deep south in Aswan to Basyoun in the north, where his father is from, these diary entries are raw, unjudged, and deeply personal.
An interdisciplinary artist, Navy’s practice spans photography, film, collage, and lenticular techniques. Co-existing between the worlds of fashion photography and art, Navy offers a layered portrayal of his homeland, merging his and his subjects’ perspectives, capturing the spirit of the country in ways that feel both personal and universal. It is the world of Dexter Navy that you are walking into.
—Amina Diab, 10 September 2024
