Mashrabia has a storied history in Cairo, representing several notable contemporary Egyptian artists including Adel El Siwi and Ahmed Askalany. The gallery is featuring several interesting works at Art Cairo, some of which touch upon aspects of daily life within the city.
View here.
View here.
These include works by Ahmed Yasser that take on the chaos of Cairo’s roads. Painted on tattered and unfurled pieces of canvas, the Egyptian artist reimagines scenes of traffic and accidents with a somewhat surrealist bend. In one, a monkey leaps out of windshields to attack a pedestrian in what is perhaps a symbolic representation of road rage. In another, a man is hurling towards the sky, his briefcase flying above him. The scene is perhaps an upwards view of a hit-and-run, with a road sign looming from behind a palm frond.
In Echoes of Liberty, Sami Elias presents an awe-inspiring work on wood that brings to mind the feeling of nostalgia. The work shows a woman posing in an orange dress reminiscent of 1970s fashion with slender palms rising behind her. The scene, however, has been blurred and painted thinly as to reveal the woodgrains.
Stefania Angarano, director of Mashrabia, says this is the second time the gallery is participating in the fair. The event, she says, is particularly important for local institutions as it gives them a platform to present works, both to local and international audiences.
“It was a good moment for me to participated because, because of the changes that has happened in Cairo in general,” she says. “More and more galleries are being concentrated in the Zamalek region, and some in the compounds. Mashrabia is based downtown, and there were other galleries there, but most of them closed, so I feel that I am alone. It’s important for there to be a fair. We need this. And I’d love to show our works because I am confident of the the quality of my choices.”
In Echoes of Liberty, Sami Elias presents an awe-inspiring work on wood that brings to mind the feeling of nostalgia. The work shows a woman posing in an orange dress reminiscent of 1970s fashion with slender palms rising behind her. The scene, however, has been blurred and painted thinly as to reveal the woodgrains.
Stefania Angarano, director of Mashrabia, says this is the second time the gallery is participating in the fair. The event, she says, is particularly important for local institutions as it gives them a platform to present works, both to local and international audiences.
“It was a good moment for me to participated because, because of the changes that has happened in Cairo in general,” she says. “More and more galleries are being concentrated in the Zamalek region, and some in the compounds. Mashrabia is based downtown, and there were other galleries there, but most of them closed, so I feel that I am alone. It’s important for there to be a fair. We need this. And I’d love to show our works because I am confident of the the quality of my choices.”