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Guirguis honors Renée, his muse and lifetime companion. Together Guirguis and Renée bring the past into today to provide answers for a better tomorrow. When Guirguis is with Renée, nothing else matters.
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Opening ReceptiOn 12 April 2016
6 to 9 pm
exhibitiOn 12 April - 3 May 2016
If Salah Jahin (1930-1986) played a piv-otal role in the development of Egyptian colloquial poetry with an innate nation-alistic flair, Alexandria-based painter Guirguis Lotfy invented colloquial Egyp-tian visual arts. Tirelessly, Lotfy depicts our feasts, celebrations, rituals and tra-ditions that were or still are part of our cultural fabric. Pharaonic, Islamic or Coptic, Lotfy offers a personal rendering of those little moments of bonding and shared history, of some trivial mundane scenes with simple ordinary people. His life in a populous neighborhood in Al-exandria that still believes in magic and folklore remains a primary subject.
Describing his artistic process as literal-ly looking out his window and painting what he sees, Lotfy has shown an inde-fatigable commitment to his people by bringing forth its homogenous char-acter. As he genuinely captures the es-sence of our Egyptian-ness, he reminds us that neither religion nor social status can tear us a part. Don’t let be fooled by the apparent simplicity and naivety of his crowded paintings! Lotfy seeks to re-suscitate an ancient Egyptian elaborate painting technique practiced two millen-nia ago in religious iconography and the famed Fayoum Portraits and uses bee
By Fatenn Mostafa
wax or tempera colors dissolved in egg yolk and gold leaf. For Guirguis Lotfy, the ancient serves the present and Egypt is both one and many. It is yesterday, today and tomorrow; it is his primary source of pride and he intends to make it eternal.
In his third solo exhibition at ArtTalks, Guirguis honors Renée, his wife, the mother of his children and his lifetime companion. Together Guirguis and Renée bring the past into today to pro-vide answers for a better tomorrow. When Guirguis is with Renée, nothing else matters.
Born in 1955, Guirguis Lotfy lives and works in Alexandria, Egypt. After receiv-ing a BFA from Alexandria Faculty of Fine Arts in 1980, Lotfy went on to pursue his MFA on “Coptic painting from the 4th to the 8th Century” in 1990 and his PhD on “Coptic Art and its influence on Modern Art” in 1994 from the Cairo Faculty of Fine Arts. Hamed Owais (1919-2011) and Hamed Nada (1924-1990), two of Egypt’s modern pioneer artists, were closely in-volved at different stages in the super-vision of Guirguis Lotfy’s masters and doctorate degrees respectively.
I thank my God that I was born in the land of Mystery,
That I have grown in the shade of Palm-trees...
That I have lived in the arms of the Desert,
Great Keeper of Secrets...
That I have drunk deep of age-old Nile.
Egyptian author Doria Shafik (1908-1975)
Born 1955
Works and lives in Alexandria, Egypt
E D U C AT I O N
1980 B.Sc. Fine arts, Alexandria university
1986 Diploma in fine arts, Helwan university Cairo
1986 Masters degree philosophy of arts, Helwan university
1991 PhD, Philosophy of arts, Helwan University
S E L E C T E D E X H I B I T I O N S
2014 ArtTalks | Egypt. Love Affair.
2013 ArtTalks | Egypt. Heya Di Masr Ya Abla.
2004 French Cultural Center, Alexandria, “Les Mémoires de Guirguis”
2002 Alexandria Center of Art , “Dala fa wagad”
2001 Cairo Atelier “The Storm”
1999 The Museum of Fine Arts, Cairo, “The Storm”
1998 The Spanish Cultural Center
1997 Hanager, Zamalek Art Center, “El Mouled”
1996 Meniat al Nasr “The Wooden Horse”
1992 The Faculty of Fine Arts, Zamalek, Cairo.
1991 Kandil Hall
1989 St Marc “Horreya”
1989 Faculty of Fine Arts, Zamalek, Cairo.
B I O
Guirguis Lotfy’s Portrait by modern painter Mostafa Kamel (1917-1982)
Abayan Zein / Fortune Teller
2015
Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 120 x 80 cm
Fi Intizar Madfa3 el Iftar/ Waiting for the Fast Break
2015
Oil, gold leaf on canvas120 x 70 cm
Farah fi Shar3a / Wedding in the Street
2015
Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 152 x 152 cm
Baqat el Batikh / Watermelon Seller
2015
Oil, gold leaf on canvas70 x 50 cm
Om w Atfal / Mother and Children
2015
Oil, gold leaf on canvas70 x 50 cm
El Saif / Summertime
2015
Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 152 x 152 cm
El Leil Lama Khely / When The Night Ends
2015
Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on canvas 120 x 68 cm
El La Nehaya / Infinity
2015
Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on canvas 120 x 68 cm
Mazad el Batikh / Watermelon Bid
2015
Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 121 x 121 cm
El Soubou3 / The Kabsa Legend
2015
Oil, gold leaf on canvas118 x 67 cm
Hadikat el Hayawan / The Zoo
2015
Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 190 x 80 cm
El Mouled
2015Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood
120 x 240 cm
Fakk el Sahr / To End the Spell
2015
Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 63 x 56 cm
El Bawwab / The Porter
2015
Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 63 x 56 cm
PrintingConcorde Press
CoordinatorCherine ChafikLisa LounisAynour ZeitounSuzan Rashed
Graphic Concept& RealizationOmar Mobarek
TextsFatenn Mostafa
PhotographsLisa LounisPaul Lotfi
Catalogue Publishedon the occasion of the showGuirguis LotfyRenée معك ال أريد شيًاء12 April - 3 May 2016ArtTalks | Egypt
8 El Kamel Mohamed Street,Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt
+20227363948 [email protected] www.arttalks.com
