Zamalek Art Gallery: 'Drawing' by Mostafa Abdel Moity

Located in the heart of the island, Zamalek Art Gallery is currently exhibiting ‘Paris’ by revered Egyptian artist Farghali Abdel Hafez. Setting out to discover the intricacy within the relationship between certain cities and himself, Farghali has held a string of exhibitions starting in Venice, moving from Aswan to Cairo, and now we see him in the city of love, Paris. A clean and straightforward set up, Zamalek Art Gallery does nothing more than open its blue door for the art to speak for itself. Drenched in daylight, with white walls and subdued floors, the bursts of colours from the pieces are undistracted and unavoidable. Farghali’s pieces are dense and thick with vibrant colours; layered with paint, pastels, crayons and paper cut outs. This use of mixed-media gives depth to his work, the images draw you closer and with every closer look another detail is discovered. He almost scribbles; the shapes are sketched yet easily recognizable. His images of Paris are a mesh of cafés, the Champs-Élysées, lovers strolling by the Eiffel Tower and remnants of La Belle Époque and its cancan dancers; all splashed out in potent pinks, oranges, blues and purples with the occasional gold glitter sparkle to add to the magic. There is a charmingly childlike quality to Farghali’s art; his perspectives are distorted and the lampposts he depicts along the streets of Paris often lay flat on the ground. Such motifs exude an Egyptian-ness, a theme that is indeed meant to coexist in his depictions of Paris. The artist likens the city to Thebes; the ‘original treasure trove’ that was once central to knowledge, art and culture. The beauty in this likening is how subtly it is delivered; it’s not visually obvious but rather emotionally felt. There is something largely familiar about his images of Paris, though nothing you can pinpoint. The series is wonderfully alive, the colours fantastically rich; overall they are quite similar though. Two or three next to each other along a wall are most desirable to be taken home. The only stand-alone item that spoke a slightly different language was a large, mostly yellow painting in the centre of the exhibition. The figures are more defined, carrying clearer features and body parts. A couple with a baby carriage take up most of the canvas, along with a man in uniform to one side and another that looks suspiciously like Freud. In the details though, other small worlds are opened up. Lovers can be found absorbed in a kiss while famous Parisian monuments float around aimlessly in the vast background. As a collection, ‘Paris’ is pure, simple and honest. Although set in a different city it’s evocative of a city we also know and perhaps live in to a certain extent. We view the city through the artist’s mind and in his relating it to himself, he somehow relates it to us.

There is a ‘sublime hysteria’ to everyday life, as the curators of 'Desire, Deceit & Difficult Deliveries' by Doa Aly say. Showing in Townhouse Gallery, the exhibition only seems to create a void in which this can easily be forgotten. In a contrived effort to illustrate the obsessive, yearning quality of daily life, through a crowded confused amalgamation of themes – ranging from Greek mythology to medical science – Aly fails in making her art what all good art should be: representational of its themes.  

The collection comes across as a poorly reworked variation on an old theme, which has been done better elsewhere. The ideas are strong, however, the aesthetics, feeling, and heart required to convey such a principle concept are lacking. Overall, this exhibition is disconnected, hollow, and was ultimately a frustrating experience.

The first part of the show highlights four videos meant to tell something of the stories of the Ovid; it would take a great philosopher and historian to see this connection. But then again, maybe this is not necessary. The viewer is confronted with four videos, each in four parts, showing unidentifiable characters engaging in mechanical repetitious motions. It would seem as though the obsessive, repetitious movement of the characters on screen is meant to reflect our own schizophrenic nature, however, the rarefied atmosphere of the gallery and the removed characters, background and motions, make these pieces entirely un-relatable. In an attempt to create perhaps a universal atmosphere, Aly has created an irrelevant display that’s devoid of human feeling.

This absence of feeling continues on the first floor where an impressive text collage connects the poems of the Ovid with medical texts. Standing alone, this piece would have great strength, but as a bridge between two parts of the exhibition, we can see the artist attempting to create a narrative by force. That said, the first floor does feature some amazing drawings showcasing the artist’s talent as well as grasp of the themes presented.

The piece entitled ‘Roy’ offers a splendid conclusion to the exhibition. In this tragic piece we can see what this exhibition could have been. This piece shows a regular, relatable character and rather than underlying the fundamental themes of the exhibition and injecting it with human feeling, this very separate piece serves as a reminder of all that is missing in the rest of this show.

We found this show to be a somewhat removed handling of human feeling and lacking in terms of expressive and honest art, which could have better occupied this space.