Khaled Hafez (b. 1963, Cairo, Egypt) studied medicine and followed the evening classes of the Cairo fine arts in the eighties. After attaining a medical degree in 1987 and M.Sc. as a medical specialist in 1992, he gave up medical practices in the early nineties for a career in the arts. He later obtained an MFA in new media and digital arts from Transart Institute (New York, USA) and Danube University Krems (Austria). Hafez’s practice spans the mediums of painting, installation, photography and video. Through a diversity of visual media Hafez attempts to dissect the complex nature of the Egyptian identity: ancient Egyptian, Mediterranean, African, Arab and Middle Eastern.
International group shows include:
Contemporary Views | Al Masar Gallery for Contemporary Art | Cairo – Egypt . Guangzhou Tiennale, Guandong Museum of Art, China, 2008 ; Cairoscape , Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin, Germany, 2008; Neighbors in Dialogue, Collegium Artisticum Gallery, Skenderija Centre, Sarajevo, Bosnia, 2008; Om Kalsoum la quatrième pyramide , Institut du Mode Arabe, Paris, France, 2008; Collectiepresentatie XXI , MuHKA Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Belgium, 2008 ; Trilogie Mediterranean : from Athens to Marseille to Cairo , Palais des Arts, Marseille, France, 2008; Italia: Arab Artists Between Italy & the Mediterranean , Italian Cultural Institute, Damascus, Beirut & Cairo, 2008; Gates of the Mediterranean , Palazzo Piozzo, Rivoli,Turin, Italy, 2008; Contact Zone, Bamako Museum of Art, Bamako, Mali 2007; The Present Out of the Past Millennia : Contemporary Art of Egypt,Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn , Germany, 2007; Recognize , Contemporary Platform, London, UK, 2007; This Day , Tate Modern, London, UK, 2007; Sharjah Biennale , UAE, 2007; Without Title, MuHKA Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Belgium, 2007;Neighbors in Dialogue, Istanbul, Turkey, 2007; Singapore Biennale , Singapore 2006; Dakar Biennale , Senegal 2006; Images of the Middle East , Copenhagen, Denmark, 2006; Mediterranean Encounters , Messina, Italy 2005; Dakar Biennale, Senegal, 2004, (Francophone Prize); Cairo Modern Art in Holland, Fortiscircus Theater, Den Haag, Holland, 2001.
Museums Acquisitions:
The Saatchi Collection, London, UK
Muhka Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Belgium
Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art, Sarajevo, Bosnia
Mali National Museum, Bamako, Mali
Artist Statement :
I link imagery of the ancient iconography with deja-vu contemporary elements, hence the use of Anubis (God of the underworld) and Batman, Bastet (Goddess of domestication) and Cat-woman; the icons are manipulated to insinuate metamorphosis; I believe that we are at a point in history where there is cultural recycling: visual, conceptual, beliefs among other aspects.
