“Most of every painting I confronted in awe was a source of stories to tell; canvases that recounted stories of places, creatures and things. Seldom have I been impressed or taken aback in surprise by abstraction; only stories manage to shake me in awe…..Only works with symbols, codes, forms, values, signs and narratives are those that I consider embody the best achievement we have created as humans…..”
Personal Data
Born in Behera, Egypt in 1952. He currently lives and works in Cairo, Egypt.
Education
1970/76 MD from Faculty of Medicine – Cairo University, Egypt
1974/75 Independent studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Cairo, Egypt
Awards and Achievements
1995 Translation of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Theory on Painting”
1996 Initiator of Experimental Community Art Project in Kom Ghurab, Old Cairo
1997 Member of Supreme Council of Culture, Egypt
Select Group Exhibitions
2008 Cairo Biennale – Cairo, Egypt
2008 Arabia Italia – Chelsea Art Museum – New York, USA
2008 World into Art: Artists of the Middle East – British Museum – Dubai, UAE
2005 Mashrabia Gallery – Cairo, Egypt2003 Arab Canvas – Dubai, UAE
2002 Contemporary Egyptian Art – Beijing China
2002 Ateliers Arabes – UNESCO Hall – Beirut, Lebanon
2001 Contemporary Art in Egypt – Mexico City – Mexico
1999 12 Contemporary Egyptian Artists – The Arab World Institute – Paris, France
1998 Bellektin- Moderling – Dolmabachi Cultural Center – Istanbul, Turkey
1997 Modernity & Memories: Recent Works from the Islamic World - Venice Biennale – Venice, Italy
1997 Alexandria Biennale – Alexandria, Egypt
1997 Trans African Art – Orlando Museum of Modern Art – Florida, USA
1997 Sans Frontiers – Gallery Micheline Fallet – Geneva, Switzerland
1996 Biennale of Sao Paolo - Sao Paolo, Brazil
1995 Modern Egyptian Art Exhibition – Marseilles, France
1995 Korean Cultural Center – Paris, France
1994 The Arab World Institute – Paris, France
1994 Rencontre Africaine – National Gallery – Johannesburg, South Africa
1986 Foreign Artists in Italy – Innocenti Palace – Florence, Italy
Select Solo Exhibitions
2008 The Face and Beyond/Au Déjà du Visage – Le Violon Blue – Tunisia
2007 Siwi Faces – Art Space – Dubai, UAE
2006 My Stars – Mashrabia Gallery/ Espace Karim Francis – Cairo, Egypt
2005 French Cultural Center – Alexandria, Egypt
2004 Illusion Art Gallery – Kuwait City, Kuwait
2003 Al Riwaq Gallery – Damascus, Syria
2004 Agial Gallery – Beirut, Lebanon
2003 Ammar Farahat Gallery - Tunisia
1999 Ekhnaton Gallery – Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt
1999 Vision Egyptienne D’Eternite – Ville D’Agde, France
1996 Egyptian Academy – Rome, Italy
1995 Mashrabia Gallery – Cairo, Egypt
1993 Mashrabia Gallery – Cairo, Egypt
1993 Epreuve D’Artiste – Beirut, Lebanon
1992 Mashrabia Gallery – Cairo, Egypt
1990 Papiry Gallery – Berlin, Germany
1990 Mashrabia Gallery – Cairo, Egypt
1989 Koreuber Gallery - Berlin, Germany
1988 Mashrabia Gallery – Cairo, Egypt1987 Cairo Atelier – Cairo, Egypt
Evoking the Motherland
By Rebecca Anne Proctor
The Face Ennunciates
By Beral Madra
A Multicultural Face
By Carmelo Stranog
