Marwan Rechmaoui is presenting a new iteration of his ongoing work Chasing the Sun (2023–2025) as a site-specific installation. Continuing his exploration of childhood games as a lens for examining how toys shape societies, Rechmaoui reflects on his own childhood experiences navigating social hierarchies where possession and prowess determined status, drawing parallels between the structures of play and those of war, where every game produces winners and losers, and, symbolically, the ‘killing’ of the latter.
For the Istanbul restaging of the work, the artist brings together existing sculptures and games alongside new works such as olive trees and clouds, see-saws, swing sets, sailboats and an oversized toy-horse. Spanning the building’s interior and its terrace overlooking the Bosphorus, the installation adopts vivid colours and distilled forms to capture the immediacy of play. Yet beneath this joyful atmosphere and the works’ dreamlike, whimsical surface, Chasing the Sun evokes undercurrents of competition, conflict and social stratification.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Marwan Rechmaoui (b. 1964, Beirut) is an artist based in Beirut, Lebanon. His work, made with industrial materials such as concrete, metal, tar and glass, reflects his methodical study of cartography and urbanisation. Focusing on the cultural histories of cities, and mirroring the complex socio-political structure of the Arab world, his works incorporate maps of city streets and landmarks of Beirut. His solo exhibition Slanted Squares was shown at the Sharjah Art Foundation (2019) and the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht (2019). He has participated in the group exhibitions 215: Unstable Ground, MoMA, New York (2022); Mappa Mundi (World Map),Villa Empain, Brussels (2020); Truth is black, write over it with a mirage’s light, Darat al Funun, Amman (2018); Sharjah Biennial 13 (2017).
EXHIBITED WORKS
Marwan Rechmaoui (b. 1964)
Chasing the Sun, 2025
Sandboxes, stars, sun, wire cars, olive trees, clouds, seesaw, swing sets, sailboat, toy horse
Variable dimensions
Courtesy of the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery
