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'Meet the Artists' at AL MASAR Gallery AL MASAR Gallery creates a dialogue between art lovers and Egyptian artists in its ‘Meet the Artists' event on Sunday
In celebration of its latest art exhibition, ‘Contemporary Views IV: Figurative Practice', AL MASAR gathered art collectors and art lovers to meet up with their featured artists this month. AL MASAR Gallery halls were packed with Egyptian and foreign attendees, including EU Ambassador Marc Franco. At the ‘Meet the Artist' event, guests were taken on a tour around the gallery, where artists works were presented and discussed. Among the displayed works were pieces by Taha Hussein, Omar El-Nagdy, Adel El-Siwi, Ibrahim El-Dessouki, Essam Darwish, Ahmed Askalany, Kareem El Qurity, Sami Aboul Azm, Mohamed Radwan, Hany Rashed and Ahmed Farid. The absence of a number of the participating artists was problematic as the exhibition's organisers failed to deliver on the original mission, namely that guests would have a chance to interact with the minds behind the canvases. A piece called ‘Safe Haven' by Kareem El Qurity was the evening's eye grabber. Franco along with a number of guests stood beside El Qurity as he told painting's story. ‘Safe Haven', a mixed media piece, is the artist's commentary on reality. El Qurity speaks of a political Egypt, capturing busts of three civilians and an army soldier in gold without any definite features on a plain black background. He embedded some Arabic calligraphy, quoting certain laws from the Egyptian constitution. “These pieces are parts of the constitution that seem to be neglected by the Egyptian population and are in question,” El Qurity tells everyone. Speaking to Ahram Online, Nermine Amer, the gallery's manager stated, “This piece was originally exhibited prior to the revolution, through which the artist predicted something was about to happen.” The story of ‘Safe Haven' provoked questions by audience members on censorship and freedom of expression specifically. “‘Safe Haven' escaped any censorship,” El Qurity told the gathered guests. Contemporary Views IV: Figurative Practice is the latest exhibition at AL MASAR Gallery. The exhibition kicked off on 29 May and will continue until 25 October 2011.
