Egypt, China ink agreements on standards, university hospital cooperation    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Egypt backs Palestinian unity, calls for ceasefire, aid access    EGX ends week in green on July 10    Egyptian pound strengthens against US dollar on July 10    Egypt, China central banks sign pacts to boost yuan use, payment systems    Egypt's EDA, Haleon discuss local market support    Environment ministry signs agreement to strengthen marine protection, promote ecotourism    Egypt, WHO discuss expanding health cooperation, development initiatives    Service restoration underway after Cairo telecom fire, minister tells PM    Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrives in Egypt for high-level talks    Gaza under siege, fire: Resistance intensifies amid deepening humanitarian collapse    Korea Culture Week in Egypt to blend K-Pop with traditional arts    Egypt, Pakistan boost healthcare ties – Cabinet    UK, Egypt strengthen cooperation on green transition, eco-tourism, and environmental investments    Escalation in Gaza as ceasefire talks remain fragile amid mounting humanitarian crisis    CIB finances Giza Pyramids Sound and Light Show redevelopment with EGP 963m loan    Egypt's PM, Uruguay's president discuss Gaza, trade at BRICS summit    Greco-Roman tombs with hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered in Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Egypt condemns deadly terrorist attack in Niger        Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt's GAH, Spain's Konecta discuss digital health partnership    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Painting others
Published in Al-Ahram Weekly on 14 - 12 - 2017

Al-Akhar (The Other) is the title of Ayman Taher's latest exhibition, at the Salah Taher Hall, Cairo Opera House, whose opening last month drew in a large number of artists, ministers and ambassadors.
Ayman Taher, the son of the great artist Salah Taher, was born in Egypt in 1946 and graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in 1970. Working in the experimental and articulate tradition established by his father, Taher says, “I wanted to express the other, which is not only the unconscious but also practically anything. Jean-Paul Sartre said that hell is other people, but he went on to say that love too is other people…” Taher shows 51 acrylic and oil paintings making use of the palette knife and completed in the course of one year. “There were five or six paintings that hadn't been completed two years ago, but all of a sudden I completed them and the whole dialogue of this exhibition started to come together.” Here as in his previous exhibition “Towards Harmony”, Taher's cubist and abstract approach also incorporates folk and surreal motifs like a red fish and blue eyes recalling André Breton's novel Nadja.
Though black and white remain dominant, Taher – a photographer and scuba diver – follows his passion for the sea, showing luminous and glittering creatures and coral reefs. He also paints the desert, birds and animals. Taher says his father's work remains his greatest influence even though commentators have pointed out that he has liberated himself from his father's style. He proudly cherishes the fact that being Salah Taher's son, he grew up among such luminaries as Naguib Mahfouz and Tawfik Al-Hakim (who inaugurated his first solo exhibition) as well as the composer Zakaria Ahmed, the vernacular poet Bairam Al-Tonsi and the great diva Um Kolthoum, whom he painted. Like Salah Taher, however, Ayman went through all stages and schools of art: classical, abstract and surreal.


Clic here to read the story from its source.