Gamal Nekrumah and Rania Khallaf reveal the mind behind the Paradox "Paradox-on" is a weird enough title for an exhibition. Paradox is a key word, and is used here as a tool to reveal the stark difference between two situations, not necessarily good and bad, black and white, as well as to raise questions and further give any fixed images and stagnant notions in the viewers' minds a good shake up. The show was held recently at the European Union residence in Zamalek on the occasion of the ceremony to bid farewell to H.E. Ambassador Marc Franco and his wife, Rita Janseen, after two and a half years as head of the European Delegation to Egypt. This exhibition was perhaps unique now that all the artists exhibiting were young male with the exception of one woman, Nermine Hammam,who was also older than the rest. The exhibition's curator, Aida Eltorie, said Paradox-on is that play of conflict created from opposing forces, be they human, environmental or even celestial. It is the change from one element to another, only for one eventual force to triumph from the balance and harmony it was principally brought into. Touring the exhibition with Eltorie in the beautifully decorated residence was itself an educational experience. Rami Dozi's project, entitled 'Eshta' (a colloquial Egyptian word for creamy, which also means cool) was the first paradox to stop at, meditate and enjoy with a smile. One of Dozi's pictures revealed that in place of the statute of Mustafa Kamel Pasha in Mustafa Kamel Square in Downtown Cairo was a woman lying seductively on the pedestal of the statute, but previously unnoticed by passers by. Another picture is a fantastical depiction of the statute of Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. He is walking with, stick in hand, on the railing of the 6th October bridge. The original place of the statute is Sphinx Square in Mohandessin. The Cairo Tower becomes a twin tower in another picture. Quite clever. 'Farkha'a' an inventory word that mean chicken, is another project by Dozi, who is obsessed with street banners that carry illogical phrases. He invents a kind of relationship between the word or phrase and the image, an amusing, imaginative relationship that was not there before. In a painting entitled Cairo Transport Vehicle, the viewer sees a network of very fine lines corresponding to a spider's web, and which definitely lead to nowhere. Ahlan wa sahlan (Welcome) is the title of a third painting which carries a fly in the centre, with a small inscription beside it saying, 'Debana', the slang word for 'fly'. "I started this project in 2010," Dozi, who graduated from the Cairo Arts Education College in 2007, told Al-Ahram Weekly. I have always been curious to find out the meaning behind clichés and of course I am totally against fixed notions, and I believe people should see things in new concepts and do not submit to the usual "I usually work with the brainstorming technique; take too many shots or notes, and then try to find unusual relationships among them. My target is to evoke two levels of perception in the mind of the viewer." Ali Abdel-Mohsen's drawing with ink on cartoon boxes, is another invitation to think of the embodiment of human element in today's complicated city. In his project, which included seven works, and entitled Terra Nova, Abdel-Mohsen, who is also a writer at Al-Masri Al-Youm English edition, reflects his worries of the challenges imposed by contemporary cities like Cairo on its citizens. The freshness of his creative works is another paradox, due to the fact that he has never studied art. Born in 1984, Abdel-Mohsen's works reflect his deep worries of today's 'war of consumption' as he terms it, and predict a social earthquake. The paradox in his works denotes, "the destructive nature of human progress on earth," he told the Weekly. What is the significance of using cartoon boxes as a material to draw on, I asked? "It simply reflects the ferocious spirit of today's industrial and consuming kind of life," he explained, adding that he chose cardboard simply because our entire lives are based on products and commodity. It is a kind of a cry against obvious stark decrease in human resources. 'Hey, what is going on?' is another brilliant project of animation series by a young animator, 28-year-old Essam Abdallah. His work raises a common question, but leaves the answers to you. A dinosaur asks a funny shaped chicken, in complete astonishment, "What is going on?" The hen answers, in equal surprise, "I don't know." The onlooker is left wondering what could possibly be the relationship between a dinosaur and a mere chicken? What would b an issue for both and connect them in one square? Could it be the Square itself? Tahrir Square? Famous calligrapher Sameh Ismail had another way of perceiving paradox. His calligraphy, painted in warm colours, reflects the conflict between shape and form. "What really strikes me now is the provocative and stagnant speech of the religious Islamists, which is definitely ineffective in such a revolutionary era. This is what makes us Muslims even more worried about our future than our Coptic brothers and sisters," he told the Weekly. In this collection of paintings Ismail, who was born in 1974, attempts to reshape Arabic calligraphy and free it from its classical form to invent a sort of "dance between the text and the form." He also depicts this conflict between white and black, good and evil which is simply the core of paradox. Ismail's paintings ended this fantastic tour in this warmly atmospheric cultural house. However, this Paradox will definitely go on in my mind for months to come.
