“Solitude II”, an exhibition of paintings by Ashraf Zamzami, is currently showing at Safarkhan gallery. For his fourth exhibition at the gallery, the acclaimed artist returns with part two of his hugely successful “Solitude”, which was his first appearance after a lengthy hiatus. He shows an even more nuanced mastery of colour, focusing on intensity and brightness. He also tries out greater abstraction of the human form and human-animal relations. As a natural extension of the works exhibited last year, with some new and subtle variations, this collection is another self-assured feat of bold experimentation grounded in both appreciation and resentment of seclusion, loneliness and isolation. The artist's truly original expressionism is what makes his work special, and it is the product of deep introspection that requires solitude, after all. The artist is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Minya, and his work has garnered acclaim in Egypt and abroad for its refreshing purity, innocent yet substantive nature. 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The exhibition is on until 18 March.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 27 February, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
