Sculptor Gaber Hegazi's work shows unusual historical depth and consummate technical expertise, writes Nagwa El-Ashri In his current exhibition at the Ragheb Ayyad Hall in the Gezira Art Centre, sculptor Gaber Hegazi offers us a taste of his brilliance in stone through his massive sculptures done as precise geometric compositions. Few sculptors can compete with Hegazi in his uncanny ability to carve stone into works of brilliant smoothness, "monoliths of beauty" that betray his long years of experience. Hegazi's work summons up the epic sculptural traditions of the ancient Egyptians, the abstract spirituality of Islamic art, and the imaginative spirit of folk art. His pieces, done in granite, marble, or wood, are not only masterpieces of beauty, but also evidence of unusual historical depth and expertise. Hegazi fashioned the statue of the mermaid in Al-Maks in Alexandria, which is made of artificial stone. Two other works are on display in the same city, one of the late musician Sayed Mekkawi and the other of the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis. Born in Alexandria in 1936, Hegazi graduated from the Fine Arts College in Alexandria in 1962, before earning a PhD from the Italian Academy in Rome in 1974. He has taught in the Sculpture Department of the Fine Arts College at Alexandria University, where he has supervised numerous students, and he participates regularly in art shows and symposiums both at home and abroad.
