Preview | Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 March 2012 | 12:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Opening Reception│In the presence of the artist | Sunday 4 March 2012│7:00 PM

The exhibition will continue through│29 March 2012

Al Masar Gallery for Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the opening of a special solo exhibition titled “EAST…WEST” by internationally renowned Egyptian artist Taha Hussein (b. 1929) who belongs to the third generation of the Egyptian art movement. This special exhibition gathers the accumulation of 3 years of work (2009 -2011) & is dedicated to the artist’s 83rd birthday & a life-time achievement in art which is about to complete six decades.

إن التفاعل مع الثقافة الأجنبية يؤدي إلى تنشيط القطب الذاتي نحو طرقه عملية معايشته في الطريقة الذاتية” جوته -١٨٢٨ م“

The exhibition does not relate in its content and meaning to the geographical sense of a place, but it is rather dedicated to the cultural and creative sense behind the arts, and other human creations and its various activities that of which civilizations and cultures have lived through across the ages in the “East and West”.

For a long time, the relations, cultural interactions and influences between the East and West went uninterrupted which resulted in the richness, diversity and tremendous innovation of people’s thought and culture which marked the ancient, modern and contemporary times.

In this exhibition, the artist is inspired by the thought and philosophy of pioneering German poet “Wolfgang Goethe” (1748 – 1832 AD), who embraced his relationship to the East which he had communicated in his book “Al Divan Al Sharky lel Mo’alef El Gharby” (1819 AD) (AKA Westöstlicher Diwan/ The West-Eastern Divan) as well as in his daily and yearly journals (1828 AD) that is kept in his museum in Dusseldorf, Stuttgart in Germany.

Through the paintings, the artist is inspired by several European & Oriental artists thus establishing a dialogue with their own personal characters & selves which is represented in his own adaptations of famous paintings by Michael Angelo, Matisse, Leonardo Da Vinci, Van Gogh & Bronzino.

Taha Hussein was born in Gamalia on 14 February, 1929. He was raised in the historical districts encompassing the environs of El Azhar and Sayedna El Hussein mosques. Both areas are rich with Islamic architecture and centers of cultural activity as places of religious and political discourse with its richness of social and political pulse, and human behavior. Living in a unique atmosphere of a special place in the Arab world inevitable contributed to the depth and religious references in his work.

Having excelled in drawing at school, earning affectionate nicknames as “the teacher of drawing”; he was trained with the finest art teachers at that time. All this led to Taha Hussein joining the Applied Arts Royal college, where he completed his studies in 1951 ranking the top of his class, gaining his path into Arts which he is still continuing until this day through lecturing at the College of Applied Arts, and painting in his country side Atelier among the greenery and enjoying the gentle breeze, an atmosphere, which he says, charges of his soul.

RSVP:
E: info@almasargallery.com
M: +2 0100 0670 705 | T: +202  2736 8537

Opening hours

Saturday – Thursday | 11:00 AM- 9:00 PM

Address: 157 b, Baehler’s Mansions, 26^th July St, Ground floor, side entrance, Zamalek, 11211, Cairo- Egypt
Cell: +20100 0670 705
Tel: +202  2736 8537
E: info@almasargallery.com
W: almasargallery.com

To view full painting with its caption, click on the image to enlarge it.

22 January – 25 February 2012

Al Masar Gallery for Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the opening of a special event dedicated to the first anniversary of the Egyptian white revolution titled “Bahgory on Revolution”

Bahgory on Revolution is a special event on the revolution & the Egyptian people by renowned Egyptian artist Georges Bahgory showcasing all the artist’s post revolution artworks to date.

Through his paintings, he’s expressing his feelings and musings on the Egyptian revolution & the Egyptian people shedding light on the rundown of events in 2011, the warmth of the Egyptian social life, some familiar everyday scenes from the streets of Cairo & other inspirations such as the charm of Egyptian music & the music legend, Um Kolthoum, who sang a lot of patriotic & nationalist songs that embodied the will of the Egyptian people.

Some paintings mainly represent and depict scenes from the events that took place on the 2nd of February 2011, referred to as “The Battle of the Camel” where dozens of thugs, horseback riders and owners of camels in the tourist area surrounding the Giza Pyramids were reportedly hired to attack Tahrir Square protesters using bladed weapons to force them out.

Georges Bahgory is an eminent Egyptian artist from the third generation born in 1932 in Egypt, and currently living between Cairo and  France. Bahgory studied Art at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Zamalek, Cairo, 1955 and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris in 1970. Upon a special invitation from the Society of Art Lovers in Paris, his works were selected to represent the Egyptian Pavilion at Louvre Museum in 1999. A face from Egypt was given the Silver Medal award and his name was added to the list of great masters of art. His wood and bronze engravings were on display in many galleries in France and Canada. He also created two granite works during the Aswan International Symposium of Sculpture. Bahgory was also a prominent cartoonist of the two weekly magazines of Sabah Al Khair and Rose El Youssef. He was voted the No. 1 Artist of Portraiture in France, Italy and Spain. He published “Trilogy of Icons”, a novel which was acclaimed by prominent literary critics such as Dr. Salah Fadl and Edwar Al Kharat. Some of his works were acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in Amman and the Museum of Modern Art in Cairo.

The True ‘Path’

“Never did I imagine that the echo of one scream, one call, “The [Egyptian] people want …” could give way to a revolution, and a million revolutionaries then eighty million more; I’m one of those.

From Tahrir – Liberation — square to my studio, I walked with arms raised up waving among the droves, millions of them; I chanted yet again.

In my studio, I gathered my drawings from my one thousand and first sketchbook; it was as if my arms had turned to a brush after the first [revolutionary] call and subsequent ones, and as if my five fingers have turned to hot red, orange and yellow colors; mirroring the flames around me [on the street] and inside my own chest. My own screams have become the canvases that you see in this exhibition.

Following the success of the revolution, I wandered through Tahrir Square to Opera Square in downtown Cairo, meditating again, watching [the statue of] Ibrahim Pasha sitting on his horse, the Pasha pointing his finger at the Mediterranean. And I thought this is the true ‘path’ of the January 25 Revolution.”

George Bahgory, 2011

“المسار”… الحقيقي…

لم أتصور أن تحدث دوى صرخة واحدة وهتاف واحد “ الشعب يريد …”  ثورة ومليون ثائر ثم ٨٠ مليون و أنا واحد من هؤلاء . أعود من ميدان التحرير لمرسمي وذراعي الذي يتموج وسط مليون ذراع أصرخ معهم من جديد , و في مرسمي جمعت رسوم دفتر إسكتشاتي رقم واحد بعد الألف وقد تحول ذراعي المتموج مع الصرخة الأولى و الصرخات المتتالية إلى فرشاه وتحولت أصابعي الخمسه إلى ألوان ساخنة من الأصفر والبرتقالي والأحمر , ألوان ألسنة اللهب المشتعل حولي وبداخلي فتحولت لوحاتي بصرختها إلي هذا المعرض. بعد نجاح الثورة  ,اأتجهت من ميدان التحرير إلى ميدان الأوبرا بوسط البلد لأتأمل من جديد حصان ابراهيم باشا وهو يشير بإصبعه نحو البحر المتوسط وقلت : هذا هو “المسار” الحقيقي لثورة ٢٥ يناير  .

جورج بهجوري٢٠١١

To view full painting with its caption, click on the image to enlarge it.

Dilemma II – People from Our Lives | Diptych | Mixed Media on Canvas | 55 x 110 cm | 2009

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Ahmed Askalany (b. 1978, Qena, Egypt) has exhibited in many places in Egypt & internationally as part of both solo and group exhibitions. He exhibited his artwork in Al Masar’s previous exhibitions “Contemporary Views II”,  “Contemporary Views III” & “Contemporary Views IV“. He exhibited his work in the 11^th Cairo International Biennale; he also took part in the 5^th Miniature Exhibition at the Cairo Opera House. In 2000, he exhibited in the 12^th Youth Salon, Cairo Opera House. In 2001 he exhibited in Cairo Modern Art, Circus Theatre, and The Hague, Netherlands. Askalnay lives and works in Cairo.

The artist had created a large scale of the sculpture titled “The Thinker” which has accomplished a huge success in Christie’s Auction of April, 19, 2011.

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Hussein Youssef Amin (1904 – 1984, born in Cairo, Egypt) was a painter and a teacher who belongs to the second generation of the modern Egyptian Art Movement; he taught some of the most ground-breaking Egyptian artists. He founded the Contemporary Art Group in the 1940s. In 1948, he won the first modern art prize at the Sao Paolo Biennale.

As a teacher, in 1944, he created a circle of students, with artists Hamed Nada, Ibrahim Mas’ouda, Abdel-Hadi El-Gazzar, Maher Ra’ef, Kamal Youssef, Mogli (Salem El-Habshi) and Samir Raf’I who also became stars of the 20^th century Egyptian Modern Art. Collectively, their attitude towards painting was expressionistic — to paint in an intuitive and emotional manner, to work on both the detail and the whole picture, balancing the harmony of colour and volume. And the subject was Egypt. Amin taught them to paint rather than imitate.

Amin has been part of several exhibitions held by Al Masar Gallery, however Al Masar Gallery had the pleasure to exhibit his artwork in the group exhibition “Remebered | Late Artist | Hussein Youssef Amin” which featured his artwork alongside the artwork of his students, the ones who has been greatly influenced by his art & approach.

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Abdel Hadi Al Gazzar (1925 – 1966, Alexandria, Egypt) occupies a unique position among the artists of his generation. Since his death, his work has not ceased to challenge artists, intellectuals and critics both in Egypt and abroad. When Al Gazzar was 15 years old, his family moved to Cairo and settled in the district of Sayyida Zaynab. Al Gazzar then attended lessons at the “Artistic Club” established by artist Hussein Youssef Amin, at Helmeya School. In 1950, he received his diploma from the School of Fine Arts. He had his primary exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art in Cairo in 1951.

In 1957, Gazzar got approval for a second scholarship for another four years in Italy. He participated in the Arab Artists Salon in Rome, where he attained the Silver Medal. In 1958, he participated in the International Exhibition in Brussels: “Fifty years of Arts”, where he was granted the first prize. In 1962, he got hold of the first reward in the contest “The Revolution – Ten Years After,” for his painting “The Charter” Not least, in 1964 he was once again awarded another Medal of Arts & Science and State Incentive for his painting “The High Dam”.

Although the fact that he achieved success relatively fast during his life as confirmed by the many awards, the real artistic impact of Gazzar’s work has been noticeable until recently. This is mainly due to influence which he maintains to implement over the young generations who have made him a spiritual godfather of the symbolic movement in Egypt.

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Mohamed Radwan (b.1970, Cairo, Egypt) holds a BFA, MFA and Ph.D. in sculpture from Helwan University. In his sculptural projects, Radwan adopts the ancient Egyptian stone carving techniques and simulates concepts of abstraction to formulate stone masses that interact with space. His colossal works have been exhibited in Aswan International Symposium of Sculpture (1999 & 2007), Symposium of Cheafolonia, Italy (2003), the Egyptian Academy in Rome, Italy (2003 & 2004), the Second Berojia Exhibition, Italy (2003), the Nanto Petra Symposium, Vechiensa, Italy (2003) and the Alya Sculpture Symposium in Lebanon. He was also an invited artist in the 12^th International Cairo Biennale.

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Mahmoud Afifi (b. Alexandria, Egypt) graduated from the Faculty of Arts, 1940; thereafter in 1955 he obtained a diploma in Painting in Rome, Italy. Afifi was guided by the great mentor Hamed Said, who made him join his well known Art Assembly in 1946. Their mission was to go back to the origins and blend with nature. The uniqueness about Afifi’s work is the strong, solid and thick black lines he uses to define the figures, which is known as the “Hard Edge” style.

The legend George Rouault (1871 – 1951) used the same technique thus we call Afifi the “Egyptian Rouault”.  Afifi added up about twenty years of experience by working at Al Ghoury Agency till he became the director of the handcrafts Divisions and directed the Society of Al Ghoury Artists after the death of its founder the late sculptor Abdel Hamid Hamdy.

The pulse pf life of the Egyptian people can be noticed in Afifi’s paintings such as romance, family, and recent historical wars. The political events in Egypt were particularly capturing their mind. Thus he went into a phase where he passionately started to symbolize the battles on his canvas where he daringly painted the Egyptian alliance against the enemy such as in the Salah El Din battle and the Rashid battle.

Another phase was sports which started after his participation in the Spain Biennale in the 1960s. The art of Afifi sometimes gives the illusion of joint glass windows while his expressional paintings are full of shape and distinct with grace and proficiency.

Afifi’s art was exhibited in Al Masar’s previous exhibition “Late Artist│Mahmoud Afifi (1920 – 1984) The Egyptian Rouault” which exhibited the artist’s complete painting collection.

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Haytham Nawar (born in Gharbia, Egypt – 1978) is a visual artist who lives and works currently between Egypt, USA and Switzerland. Nawar’s practice is interdisciplinary and incorporates the mediums of drawing, printmaking, light and sound installation, video and photography. He is a Research Affiliate in SVA School of Visual Art NYC, lecturer at the faculty of Applied Sciences and Arts at the German University in Cairo while collaborating with Arta Film Production in Zurich. He received a BA degree in Fine Arts with a major in printmaking, a master’s degree in Fine Arts majoring in New Media from Cairo, Egypt and another master’s degree in Advanced Study in Art and Technology from Zurich, Switzerland. Nawar is currently a PhD Candidate at The Planetary Collegium, Center for Advanced Inquiry in Integrative Arts, School of Art and Media – Faculty of Arts, University of Plymouth in England. He is also a member of the Syndicate of Plastic Arts in Egypt, the Cairo Atelier for artists and writers and the Associations Internationale des Critiques d’art (AICA), Paris, France. Since 1998, he has participated in several international exhibitions, biennales, triennials, and workshops. Nawar won awards and acquisitions: in Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Egypt, France, Greece, Germany, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Spain, South Korea, Switzerland, Syria, UAE and United States.

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The career of Late Artist Nabil Darwich in the field of Pottery started in 1962, the tear of his graduation from the Faculty of Applied Arts. He was the student of the great Professor & pioneer Saiid El Sadr where he learned a lot from his workshop. It was a workshop that as established in Al Fostat under the name of “Pottery Center” and it was one of the establishments of the Ministry of Culture. In this workshop, Darwich acquired more knowledge and skills, and in 1971, Darwich became well-know after submitting his thesis in potter’s art. In this thesis, he revealed the hidden technologies of Islamic Art of “Olla Window”, an art in which the potters of the Islamic era distinguished themselves.

Darwich traveled to Kuwait and there he discovered a kind of clay that was good for making baked clay vessels. He also visited Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria and Lebanon in the hope of discovering the rue origins of Arabic and Islamic Potter’s Art, a mission only Dawrich could accomplish which truly made him distinctive. Drawing with smoke is considered as one of the creative characteristics that defined Darwich. He would practice the art of drawing by spraying carbon on some kind of potters in different shapes: plants, human & animal shapes. He was impressed by the Egyptian Folklore as a source of novelty and originality. He reflected the folklore in making pots and puppets and in sculptures he used it to represent Islamic forms and shapes. The materials he used were of course a developed mixture of his own.

Al Masar Gallery had the pleasure of exhibiting Nabil Darwich’s exclusive pottery and painting collection in the solo-exhibition “Late Artist | Nabil Darwich | 1936 – 2002”

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