In the continued memory of Eminent Artist Omar El Nagdi ( 1931-2019)
And Impulsive expressionism, 2013 , and Surrounding memories, in 2014 ..
El Nagdi’s pictorial vocabulary is rooted in his home country’s politics and in the lives led by Cairo citizens. He obtains such profuse imagery by combining poetry with elements inherited from 20th century artistic trends namely Expressionism, Cubism and Fauvism. The paintings in this exhibition fuse different sources of inspiration. El Nagdi depicts the jovial and opulent festivities of Egyptian traditions in many of his paintings. Bright colors highlighted by gold leaf in some areas burst out from some of his paintings. The dynamism rendered through the complex composition of figures and decorative patterns echo the lavish festivities & social traditions. El Nagdi paints the liveliness of Egyptian social traditional scenes. The Artist Omar El Nagdi had exhibited his artwork in numerous solo and group exhibitions at Al Masar Gallery for Contemporary Art; Three solo exhibitions of which are: Egyptianism|2009, Impulsive Expressionism|2010, Impulsive Expressionism II| 2013.
The British Art Critique Eric Newton wrote on El Nagdi as follows: El Nagdi is a sufficient proof he is an artist with exceptional gifts for symbolic design and positive splendor of color, the artist who has absorbed the decorative traditions of Near East is evident, but he has done more than echo the mannerisms of Egyptian line and the rich harmonies of Persian colors. He has adapted them both to personal ends, for his art is a mean of serious communication and what he communicates is deeply felt understanding of Egyptian life- the peasant life of Egypt today, but somehow translated into the timeless symbolism that we think of as typical Egyptian art from the beginning of Egyptian civilization which seems to add the overtones of religious ritual to the structural basis of architecture. If this artist were no more than a decorator his work would still be a delight, but because he is also half humanist, half mystic, his art becomes moving as well as delightful. The meaning that works its way up to the surface and throughout it comes from a deeper level than that of the observant eye.
ذكريات محيطة
الذكريات المحيطة بي من كل جانب ما هي الا ذكريات تعبيرية لبعض الحضات الفارقة مرئياً بين اليقين العاقل والواعي و أنتقالها للابداع الملموس المتأثر بمشاهد من الحياة اليومية المحيطة بي. أنها مشاهد بعقلي الباطن سرعان ما تتفتح لي أسرار مخزونها الغيبي للحظة ,تلك اللحظة التي ما هي إلا مرحلة الا وعي الذي يعيش بها الفنان لحظة خلاص وجدانه و بصدق الأداء في عمل فني يحاور فيه مسار أبداعه المستمر الممزوج بهويته الفنية . و عندما يرتد الا وعي الي واقعه , عندئذ يحدث أتزان لقطباهما في ولادة أعمال فنية جديدة و مبتكرة.
عمر النجدي
