AL MASAR GALLERY │Contemporary Art
17 October – 11 November 2010
Cairo, October 16, 2010 – With the presence of his excellency, the Minister of Culture and artist Farouk Hosny, Al Masar gallery for contemporary Egyptian art will be opening its doors in Zamalek venue on October 17th, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in support of the artist Hamdi Attia’s first solo exhibition.
With the collaboration of the promising Egyptian-American artist Hamdi Attia, Al Masar gallery is launching and introducing for the first time into the Egyptian art market, abstract art inspired by real photojournalism.
This exclusive and long awaited exhibition’s opening reception held on Sunday the 17th of October 2010 will be officially inaugurated by The Egyptian Minister of Culture and artist Farouk Hosny at Al Masar gallery located in one of Cairo’s famous district-Zamalek. Hamdi Attia’s artwork-paintings will be available for Egypt’s art lovers and collectors until the 11th of November.
Attia is a world renowned artist from Egypt, who won the top prize at the International Venice Biennial before emigrating to the United States of America. He continues to work between the U.S. (Chicago) and Egypt. The artist Hamdi Attia states, “In this body of work, I am trying to rethink the language of photojournalism through the conventional medium of painting”. Attia adds “The work aims to call attention to photojournalism’s impressive aesthetic vocabulary and at the same time aspires to offer a critical exploration of the mass-mediated culture of depicting mass destruction”.
During the exhibition, Al Masar gallery’s staff will offer an orientation for its invitees describing the artist’s artwork concept. Al Masar gallery is both the path and trace as a cultural nexus for exhibitions and documentations to define the genuine value of modern and contemporary Egyptian art.
Just in Blue
It is one of the pieces that were inspired by a set of images depicting the airdrop of humanitarian aid into Port-au-Prince, Haiti. During the creation process, each image was examined to create each overlapping layer of the painting.
Split Button
Even though it was not intended, Oldenburg’s split button calls attention to what might be compromised when we see the transformation of intensive manual labor references into a staged exterior design. In this painting, a part of a larger body of work, I was questioning what might be compromised when we look at photojournalists’ presentation of a war zone.
The British Are Coming
Even though it was not intended, an iconic news image could call attention to what might be compromised in transforming elements of a dramatic scene into aspects of a dramatic composition. In this painting, a part of a larger body of work, I was questioning what might be compromised when we look at photojournalists’ presentation of a natural disaster. The set of association that comes with the phrase “The British are coming” functions here as a glimpse of history that can overwrite the narration of visual elements.
