page_title: Keizer (artist)
section_title: Career and Politics
hierarchical_section_title: Keizer (artist) / Career and Politics
caption_attribution_description: English: Artwork stenciled by Keizer in Cairo, Egypt
context_page_description: Keizer is the pseudonym of an anonymous Egyptian street artist and graffiti artist whose work has gained popularity and notoriety in Egypt following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Keizer is reportedly a 33-year-old male who creates street art in Cairo full-time.
context_section_description: Little is known about Keizer's early life, as the artist (identified as a male) has taken steps to protect his identity. He has been photographed wearing a hooded sweatshirt while creating his artwork in order to impede identification.
  Political street art was not common in Egypt prior to the 2011 revolution, however it has proliferated in public spaces in the post-revolution era. Artwork targeting the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF, in particular has surged in popularity since the revolution because, according to The Christian Science Monitor, such "anti-military graffiti is a reflection of Egyptian activists’ frustration with the military rulers, who they say replaced one autocracy with another." Keizer has noted that, although much of his work is political in nature, much of it is also ambiguous or apolitical. The artist has said that, "The whole point is that it’s up to you to think and make up your own conclusions ... And a lot of people here aren’t used to making their own conclusions — they’re used to being told what to think." Keizer has been described as an Arab nationalist, and much of his artwork targets capitalism and imperialism. Kaizer's hijacking of international corporations' logos represents a critique of consumerism though the visual and textual messages depicted, in addition to his choice of the easily duplicated stencil technique that can be interpreted as an additional subversion of the invasive advertising campaigns that these companies usually conduct.
caption: Artwork stenciled by Keizer in Cairo
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