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Born in 1981 in Luxor, Alaa Awad lives and works between Cairo and Luxor. He graduated from Luxor Faculty of Fine Arts in 2004 and currently teaches in its department of mural painting. Awad took a break from teaching and came to Tahrir Square to take part in the January 25, 2011 Revolution. Soon, he started painting murals across the Square - neo-pharaonic, bold, vibrant, defiant murals that aim at shaking the grounds and reminding protesters of their heritage and glorious past. "I have always been impressed with Pharaonic art. All my murals are inspired by ancient Egyptian art, albeit with a modified and more contemporaneous feel.” Awad's art is not just aimed at refuting the arguments of the extremists who wish to repress all forms of artistic expression. Rather it is a proud attempt to call attention to Egypt's true identity. He is currently working on a thesis for his PhD on Pharaonic art and tis influence on Austrian painter Gustav Klimt.
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ALAA AWAD – works on paper
Alaa Awad, Pales+ne, 2012
Alaa Awad -‐ #IamIsis by Fatenn Mostafa "We can't know our future if we forget our past." We need to set the record straight. The whole world is talking about ISIS as the terrorist organiza+on and no longer as one of the most important goddesses of ancient Egypt. If you type the word ‘Isis’ in Google search, images and ar+cles of the shameful Islamic extremist rebel group in Iraq and Syria, whose correct name is Dae’sh, will appear. The search will bring about 245 million results in 49 seconds. To know more about the Egyp+an Goddess, you must type ‘Isis Egyp+an Goddess’. Back in early 2012 when there was an overflow of street art invading the walls of Cairo, a stunning and memorable mural appeared on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, one of the pillar streets of downtown Cairo where the protests were concentrated. It depicted a row of ‘Marching Women’ using a neo-‐pharaonic graffi+ style that harkened back to Ancient Egypt and reminded protestors of their heritage to stay true to their Egyp+an iden+ty.
The mural, based on an original image in the Ramesseum Temple in Luxor, became an interna+onal iconic visual commemora+ng the role of women in past and contemporary Egyp+an society. By placing this ancient image in a more modern context, it demonstrated how instrumental women were in leading movements for change in the past and also in the present. It was a wake up call. Alaa Awad, born in Luxor in 1981, was the ar+st behind the iconic visual. He had decided to take a break from teaching at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Luxor where he was professor in the Department of Mural Pain+ng, to come to Cairo to contribute to the spreading of street art and support the revolu+on.
In November 2012, ArtTalks | Egypt signed with Alaa Awad and today #IamIsis will be Alaa Awad’s first solo exhibi+on as a full-‐fledged visual ar+st to be reckoned with. A highly talented ar+st with a BFA (2004) and an MFA (2013) from the South Valley University Faculty of Fine Arts in Luxor, Awad studied ancient Egyp+an art and later on, its influence on Western art with par+cular focus on Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt. Awad’s usage of the neo-‐pharaonic style is meant to draw aden+on back to rich, old Egyp+an tradi+ons. All his murals are typically mul+faceted and mul+-‐layered with each telling a different story – stories borrowed from two to three millennia ago that ironically find a parallel in today’s Egypt. “Ancient Egypt was a glorious civiliza6on. I have always been impressed with Pharaonic art. All my murals are inspired by ancient Egyp6an art, albeit with a modified and more contemporaneous feel. I must make people remember this culture, this history – because we can lose it. And we can’t know our future if we forget our past.” Such words combined with his outstanding pain+ngs represent, in our eyes, the right weapon to set the records straight through #IamIsis and give a plagorm to a truly genuine Egyp+an young ar+st to spread his social engagement to the world. Alastair Sooke, an art cri+c for The Daily Telegraph, wrote in May 2013: “Alaa Awad is a prominent member of the new genera6on of Egyp6an street ar6sts whose work during and since the revolu6on has captured interna6onal aEen6on. Awad produces complex, phantasmagorical composi6ons that fuse the appearance of Cubist pain6ngs by Picasso with the imagery of the ancient Egyp6ans. For my money, Awad’s work is Egyp6an street art at its best: dis6nc6ve, original and nuanced. His murals blend a sense of darkness, violence and despair with moments of tenderness and ela6on. Perhaps, then, we should stop thinking of Awad and his colleagues as “street ar6sts”, and start calling them simply “ar6sts” instead.”
LUXOR
Commissioned 20m wide wall in Massachuse?s USA
Apis II, 2012 Mixed media on paper
50 x 70 cm SOLD
AFA-‐201
Revival, 2011 Mixed media on paper
50 x 70 cm
AFA-‐202
Revival, 2011 Mixed media on paper
50 x 70 cm
AFA-‐203
Revival, 2011 Mixed media on paper
50 x 70 cm SOLD
AFA-‐204
Revival, 2011 Mixed media on paper
50 x 70 cm
AFA-‐205
Revival, 2011 Mixed media on paper
65 x 50 cm AFA-‐206
Revival, 2011 Mixed media on paper
40 x 60 cm
AFA -‐207
Revival, 2011 Mixed media on paper
40 x 60 cm
AFA-‐208
Revival, 2011 Mixed media on paper
60 x 40 cm SOLD
AFA-‐209
Revival, 2011 Mixed media on paper
40 x 65 cm SOLD
AFA-‐210
Revival, 2011 Mixed media on paper
40 x 65 cm SOLD
AFA-‐211
Women of Egypt Rise, 2011 Mixed media on paper
40 x 65 cm SOLD
AFA-‐212
Women of Egypt Rise, 2011 Mixed media on paper
40 x 60 cm SOLD
AFA-‐213
Apis, 2011 Mixed media on paper
31 x 39 cm
AFA-‐214
Rebuilding, 2012 Mixed media on paper
50 x 65 cm SOLD
AFA-‐215
Rebuilding, 2012 Mixed media on paper
50 x 70 cm
AFA-‐216
Rebuilding, 2012 Mixed media on paper
50 x 65 cm
AFA-‐217
Rebuilding, 2012 Mixed media on paper
50 x 65 cm
AFA-‐218
Rebuilding, 2012 Mixed media on paper
50 x 70 cm
AFA-‐219
Rebuilding, 2012 Mixed media on paper
50 x 70 cm
AFA-‐220
Rebuilding, 2012 Mixed media on paper
50 x 65 cm
AFA-‐221
Rebuilding, 2012 Mixed media on paper
50 x 65 cm
AFA-‐222
Rebuilding, 2012 Mixed media on paper
50 x 65 cm
AFA-‐223
Rebuilding, 2012 Mixed media on paper
50 x 65 cm
AFA-‐224
Rebuilding, 2012 Mixed media on paper
50 x 65 cm
AFA-‐225
Rebuilding, 2012 Mixed media on paper
50 x 65 cm
AFA-‐226
Revival, 2012 Mixed media on paper
65 x 50 cm
AFA-‐227
Revival, 2012 Mixed media on paper
65 x 50 cm
AFA-‐232
Revival, 2012 Mixed media on paper
40 x 65 cm
AFA-‐233
Revival, 2012 Mixed media on paper
40 x 65 cm
AFA-‐233
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Founder Fatenn Mostafa +201003838500 Gallery Director Cherine Chafik +201003838100 Gallery Assistant Aynoor Zeitoun +201004777717 Gallery Administrator Lisa Lounis +201003970141 8 el Kamel Mohamed Street. Zamalek. Cairo. Egypt. [email protected] www.arttalks.com Facebook Page: Art Talks Egypt www.issuu.com/ArtTalks +20227363948 +201005550585
Founded in 2010, ARTTALKS | GALLERY | EGYPT has established itself as a highly selective search engine for Egypt’s next generation of contemporary artists and an authority on high quality secondary market works by twentieth century Egyptian masters and many of the most important artists working today. ArtTalks manages the estate of the late painter and sculptor Dr Sobhy Guirguis, a seminal artist who just passed away in January 2013. Part of ArtTalks income is channeled into an Art Fund to support high potential emerging artists and to finance an extensive educational program aimed at growing the number of art collectors and art patrons in Egypt. We run a yearly curriculum on the history of Egyptian modern and contemporary art and invite scholars from abroad to give talks to the public. Founded by arts patron Fatenn Mostafa, former CEO of Gianaclis Vineyards for Beverages and former advisor to Bozar, Center of Fine Arts in Brussels, Belgium, the gallery is committed to the defense of freedom of art in Egypt and to strengthen Egypt's position on the regional art map.
