Stateless

Larkin Durey is delighted to present an exhibition of new work by Massoud Hayoun, the artist’s second solo show with the gallery. Hayoun’s paintings are an ongoing investigation into enduring systems of control and the redeeming power of culture and community. In this new body of work, Hayoun continues to draw upon the rich legacy of his Egyptian, Tunisian heritage, specifically the stories shared by his elders that speak of exile and loss but also love and resistance. Their portraits populate his canvases, immortalised in tones of blue that shimmer between past and present and positioned in intimate dialogue with...

Massoud Hayoun photographed by Oliver Durey.

Massoud Hayoun (b.1997, Los Angeles, USA) is a celebrated investigative journalist, writer and painter, Hayoun draws upon his Tunisian, Moroccan and Egyptian heritage to explore notions of belonging, identity and systems of power.

The death of Hayoun’s grandparents led the artist to ...

Massoud Hayoun (b.1997, Los Angeles, USA) is a celebrated investigative journalist, writer and painter, Hayoun draws upon his Tunisian, Moroccan and Egyptian heritage to explore notions of belonging, identity and systems of power.

The death of Hayoun’s grandparents led the artist to interrogate his Jewish Arab roots, culminating in the critically acclaimed memoir When We Were Arabs: A Jewish Family’s Forgotten History, published in 2019 by The New Press, New York – an intimate tribute to his family and an attempt to articulate and explore the Jewish Arab identity. For Hayoun, “Politics are personal - and the more people benefit from certain oppressive power structures, the less likely they are to notice…the degree to which all politics are personal.” In a similar sense, his two poetic novels, Building 46 and Last Night in Brighton, both published by Darf Publishers, London, use the framework of the ghost story to examine sexuality, body image and the North African diaspora.