MONIRA AL QADIRI
FIRST SUN

DORIS C. FREEDMAN PLAZA, CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK CITY, US
3 SEPTEMBER 2025 – 2 AUGUST 2026

FIRST SUN is a majestic painted aluminum sculpture of a hybrid human-scarab figure. Monira Al Qadiri, reimagined the ancient Egyptian deity Khepri—god of the rising sun—as a contemporary monument. For the artist, the artwork underscores the modern divide between humans and the natural world and reminds us of ancient cultures in which animals were revered.The work is inspired by the artist’s visit to the Tomb of Pharaoh Ramses I in Egypt, where she encountered a painting of the scarab-faced god. Al Qadiri’s version presents Khepri as an iridescent, monumental, androgynous figure. The sun has been personified in many cultures—sometimes as male, sometimes as female—and the sculpture's title alludes to this intersection of gender and power.FIRST SUN was conceived for exhibition in both Central Park and Lassonde Art Trail in Toronto's Biidaasige Park, where the work will travel next. Both are urban spaces designed to reconnect people with nature. For the artist, this gleaming sculpture suggests a future where humans and other animals live in greater balance, where even the most humble insects are revered for the essential role they play in sustaining all life on Earth—including our own.

All photos: Nicholas Knight, courtesy of Public Art Fund

Monira Al Qadiri, FIRST SUN, is curated by Public Art Fund Senior Curator Melanie Kress and Lassonde Art Trail Artistic Director and Chief Curator November Paynter. 

 

FEATURED ARTIST

MONIRA AL QADIRI
Monira Al Qadiri (b. 1983) is a Kuwaiti visual artist born in Senegal and educated in Japan. Spanning sculpture, installation, film, and performance, Al Qadiri’s multifaceted practice is based on research into the cultural histories of the Gulf region. Her interpretation of the Gulf’s so-called “petro-culture” is manifested through speculative scenarios that take inspiration from science fiction, autobiography, traditional practices, and pop culture, resulting in uncanny and covertly subversive works that destabilize mythologies of statecraft and modernization as well as traditional notions of gender. Tracing the delicate ecologies threate...
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