CAIRO - As there is living flesh, there's also dead flesh; fresh and decayed flesh; flesh which summons desire and enflames sexuality; and flesh which demands chastity and kisses the flame of desire. Between the kiss and devouring is a thin line; between making love and killing there is a sliver. Between laughter and screaming there is a whisper. Between victim and executioner, there is a step. This is what Samir Fouad believes, as is apparent in his exhibition ‘Flesh', which deals with the anxiety humanity is suffering from today. "I want my paintings to show the people's torments," Fouad, born in 1944, told The Egyptian Gazette with a gleam in his eyes. Although he graduated in engineering from Cairo University in 1966 and then worked in computers, his real love was art, especially watercolours. He continued to self-develop, by visiting galleries and museums, particularly in England, which he frequently visited in his capacity as a computer professional. During this period he was influenced by the British watercolourists, notably Turner and Russell Flint. Fouad has been actively participating as a professional artist in the Egyptian art movement since 1984 and his watercolours are considered outstanding. He has now retired and has been devoting himself solely to his art since 2001. He held many exhibitions in Cairo, England and Nairobi. In ‘Flesh', most of his subjects are women. As the artist says, he loves to draw women as they're the origin of everything and vital for the continuance of the human race. Fouad's paintings, which vary between oil and watercolours, represent the many feelings we experience. Here's a woman going through a difficult pregnancy. You can see the pain on her face. And nearby there's a portrait of a naked, innocent baby. Another painting of a couple kissing is full of warmth, close to a painting of naked women dancing. Then, you're in for a shock: a big painting of body parts piled up on each other, representing the victims of Abu Ghraib. In Abu Ghraib Prison, located northwest of the Baghdad Airport, political dissidents were incarcerated under former ruler Saddam Hussein. Thousands of them were tortured and executed. After Saddam's fall, the prison was used by US forces in Iraq. In 2003, it earned international notoriety for allegations of torture and abuses perpetrated by members of the United States Army Reserve, during the post-invasion period. "I was struck by what happened in Abu Ghraib. I felt the humiliation and degradation, and I decided to draw what I felt." Some of his paintings are very shocking, but you can't help admire their aesthetic excellence. The secret lies in his love of capturing movement. "Everything moves and changes with time. Paintings themselves are unmoveable, but time is passing."
