Duroubgallery located in Garden City, Cairo, presents its annual collective exhibition featuring a galaxy of esteemed artists from different generations. The group exhibition includes a variety of artworks belonging to the era of the pioneers as well as contemporary Egyptian art. It showcases works by around 60 artists and some of the early works of the late pioneer artists Sabri Ragheb, well known as the master of the art of portraiture and the pastel pioneer Mohamed Sabri. There are the works of the late Farouk Wagdi who gained his reputation for his very unique and authentic folk motifs. This is in addition to the next generation of contemporary artists embodied in Omar Al-Nagdi, Abdel-Fattah Al-Badri, Adel Thabet, Nagwa Al-Ashri, Samir Abdel-Rahman and Youssri Al-Mamluk. When the name of naïve artistHassan Al-Shark crops up, people recall the charm of Thousand Nights and One Night, Kalila Wa Dimna and Al-Sira Al-Hilalia (The Hilalia saga) among other heritage-inspired tales. Hassan Al Shark's name—which means “Hassan of the East”—is sometimes written as Hassan Al Sharq. Although both are phonetically correct, Hassan has indicated that he prefers Hassan Al Shark. Hassan was born as Hassan Abdel-Rahman Hassan Sholkami—this is the name that appears on his passport. Hassan started signing his paintings "Al Shark" after the German press started referring to him as "Hassan of the East." The exhibition showcases folklore-inspired and spontaneous paintings where the artist recalls tales relayed to him by his grandmother about famous figures in the medieval Egyptian heritage such as Abu Zeid Al-Hilali, Antar wa Abla, Scheherazade as well as inherited folk traditions such Al-Moulid and stick dancing. Born in Minya governorate, Al-Shark has learnt a little about basic art techniques but later on he enrolled to the private section of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Minya University. His art saga started with painting on the walls of his village houses where his home villagers used to encourage him to decorate and beautify the walls of their houses. In 1984, German art critic Ursula Shernig discovered his talent and arranged for him two exhibitions in Cairo and Europe, it was a big success and he became internationally acclaimed and sold a lot of his artworks. He held tens of solo exhibitions and participated in several collective shows whether in Egypt, Europe and the US. The exhibition runs through the end of August.
