For the 17th year in a row, the Zamalek Art gallery presents the “Masterpieces XVII Summer Collective” exhibition, an exclusive collection of paintings and sculptures by prominent artists as well as young talents. The annual show, a unique opportunity for art lovers, always features such great names as Gazbia Sirry, Abdel-Rahman El-Nashar, Farghali Abdel-Hafiz, Zeinab El-Sageny and Rabab Nemr. This year's new guests of honour are Abdel-Hady El-Wechahi, Saleh Reda and Karim Al-Hayawan. Known for his exceptional mastery of form and balance, El-Wechahi (1936-2013) began experimenting with shapes at a very young age. It has been claimed that, as a child in Mansoura, he spent hours carving animals into a loaf of bread by biting into it. At the Faculty of Fine Art in Cairo he quickly won first prize for a sculpture, The Cold, and so earned a residency in Europe. Graduating in 1963, he lived in Italy (1971-74) and Spain (1967-71; 1975-78), earning his PhD from the San Fernando Academy in Madrid in 1978. His work is ethereal and other-worldly, much of it the result of the artist challenging himself to work straight in granite without moulds or models. His work has been acquired by the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art, the Mahmoud Said Museum, the Milano Modern Art Museum and the Contemporary Fine Arts Museum in Ibiza, Spain. The Swiss Italian composer Silvano Berlusconi produced three piano pieces inspired by his work. The exhibition is on until 31August
