Alaa Awad | |
---|---|
علاء عوض | |
Born | 1981 |
Nationality | Egyptian |
Education | PhD Candidate, Faculty of Fine Arts South Valley University, Luxor, Egypt |
Known for | Artist, public art, muralist, street art, public murals |
Website | alaa-awad |
Alaa Awad (born 1981) is an Egyptian artist and muralist based in Luxor, Egypt.
Awad is an Egyptian artist and is also known for his public murals in Cairo and Luxor, Egypt. He is well known for his murals created on Mohamed Mahmoud Street in Cairo, Egypt in 2012 during the Egyptian Revolution, which took media attention. His public murals and paintings encompass the history, dignity and charisma of the Egyptian people. He has worked internationally, in both solo exhibitions for his oil paintings and outdoor public murals. [1]
Awad began his collegiate studies at South Valley University, Faculty of Fine Arts in Luxor, Egypt and graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts. Afterwards, he began his masters studies at Helwan University, College of Fine Arts in Zamalek, Egypt, while at the same time serving as an assistant lecturer for South Valley University, Faculty of Fine Arts in Luxor Egypt. During these years, Awad spent time between both universities and graduated with a Master of Arts in 2012.
Awad has a PhD degree in Fine arts and is an assistant lecturer in the Department of Mural Painting, for the Faculty of Fine Arts, at South Valley University in Luxor, Egypt. [2] His murals and public art became well known in late 2011 and early 2012 after he took a break from teaching to paint a mural in Cairo. This was at the time that the Port Said Massacre unfolded, which changed the course of his plans and shifted his mural into a memorial mural. [2] What was meant to only be a short period of time in Cairo for Awad then became a much longer time as he continued to paint new murals on Mohamed Mahmoud Street in Cairo. [3]
Awad's PhD dissertation title is, "Artistic Vision Inspired by The Murals of War and Peace in Ancient Egyptian Art" and was released in 2019. [3]
In regards to his murals, Alaa chooses to paint with a brush and uses acrylic paints rather than using stencils and spray paints. [4] His intricate paintings can sometimes take up to a week to complete, not only because of the materials he uses, but because of the complexity of his designs. Awad paints in a neo-pharaonic style, a style that harkens back to Ancient Egypt. His usage of the neo-pharaonic style is meant to draw attention back to the rich, old Egyptian traditions. [2] This style aims to remind the Egyptian people of their heritage and past, a reminder to stay true to their Egyptian identity. [5] His murals are typically multifaceted and multi-layered with each telling a different story.
Beyond the aforementioned unique style of painting, using a neo-pharaonic style aims to return the prominence of public murals in Egypt. Public murals have played a significant role in Egyptian villages in the past, when each village had their own muralist. [6] These muralists would essentially be storytellers of the village and would depict important events or celebrations through traditional imagery and symbolism. [6] Many of these same images can be seen in Awad's artwork today, as he is inspired by the famous works of art from Ancient Egypt that can be seen in temples and museums.
Alaa Awad is also inspired by other ancient Egyptian intangible heritage forms, which are still found in Upper Egypt such as Tahtib ceremonies (Egyptian Arabic: تحطيب taḥṭīb), El Mormah and the daily life of the West Bank in Luxor, Egypt.
Alaa Awad's public murals were created in Cairo during the Egyptian Revolution and were painted on significant walls including a temporary wall-like roadblock, built to keep protesters away from government buildings. In total, eight walls and seven roadblocks were constructed to keep protesters from Tahrir Square away from the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Justice, and Parliament House. [7] The paintings along Mohamed Mahmoud Street reflect the juxtaposition between the ruling power and how their style of leadership has fueled the resistance. [6] A major difference between Awad's public murals and the other street art is that Awad's art is much more subtle because of the neo-pharonic style of his works. While his works will oftentimes directly tie to a social issue, such as gas tank shortages or women's rights, an underlying theme is that Egyptians as a whole must remember their past culture and history stating that "we can't know our future if we forget our past." [4] Awad himself has indicated his own political beliefs stating that "I don't see any change in Egypt's politics, inside or out. I just see that the Muslim Brotherhood has captured the government. They want to change everything according to their own style, to make everything Muslim Brotherhood. They forget to improve things for the public. They have forgotten the people." [4]
The Victory Mosaic was designed by Awad in Luxor, Egypt and was constructed with a team under the direction of Awad. The team consisted of students and instructors from South Valley University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Mural Painting. It was inspired from the battle scenes found in Ancient Egyptian site Habu Temple. The material used to construct the mosaic was mosaic and glass. The approximate size is 6 x 4.8 meters. It was installed in late November 2017 on the sports hall building of South Valley University campus in Qena, Egypt. The mosaic took one year to complete.
Marching Women is a mural which consists of two main components, "women in the funeral march" and "women climb the ladder". This work is based on an original image in the Ramesseum temple in West Bank of Luxor, a photo of engraved battle scenes on the Ramesseum's First Pylon, Thebes. The Ramesseum has some of the Egyptian world's oldest surviving pylons. A pylon, or monumental portal to an ancient Egyptian temple, usually consists of two massive upward tapering walls flanking and perpendicular to the temples entrance. Awad changed it, his painting made women instead of men apparent to the viewer. This work shows the strong role that women played in society in the past of Egypt and today. And we can see his meaning in the women's hands—they have papyrus in their hands, this communicates the meaning of knowledge .
This work, Women Climbing the Ladder, was based on a scene located at the Ramesseum Temple in Luxor, Egypt. By placing this ancient image in a more modern context it demonstrates how instrumental women were in the past and also in the present. [20] Awad painted this piece to represent the role of women and stated the influence of the battle of Kadesh in which it is located. In this court are well preserved scenes from the battle of Kadesh. Ramesses II dashes into battle (lower row). He is depicted larger than his men, and the enemy, mostly dead and wounded, lie in heaps on the ground. The fortress of Kadesh, surrounded by a moat, divides a group of the enemy from the battlefield. These men, far from preparing themselves for battle, are lending a hand to their drowning companions. Though this mural has been considered by some as a pretentious interpretation, there is no doubt that the complexity of the composition shows development and sophistication. The individual figures, however, indicate marked deterioration from the expressive detail of the murals of Seti I's mortuary temple. Egypt has a long history and its own traditions. [2] This again highlights Awad bringing social issues into the limelight while also reinforcing that Egypt must return to its roots to move ahead.
On Mohamed Mahmoud street is an extensive image of mural paintings inspired by ancient Egyptian history, painted by Awad in 2012. "The myth of human destruction in ancient Egypt" with hieroglyphic written by Amir Fouad. In fact, however, history as a cultural and social memory could not be more alive in the Egyptian Revolution and its aftermath. The Egyptian Revolution has reinvigorated history on the street in a way that has the capacity to produce change in society. The most intangible evidence of this is in the street murals of Mohammad Mahmoud Street, which incorporated Egyptian art in a way that endows both ancient and modern history with positive meanings. This image was expanded upon by Awad by painting a series of hostesses, or "ladies-in-waiting," which was meant to "portray a centuries" old feminine wisdom with a welcoming smile. This image shows the kindness of the hostess, representing the people, juxtaposed. The position of these figures is inspired by the position of the figures that are nfinished in Tomb of Ramose.
All Night It Is Morning by Andy Young, November 2014 [21]
Soft Force: Women in Egypt's Islamic Awakening by Ellen Anne McLarney ISBN 9780691158488, 9780691158495, 9781400866441, 2015 [22]
Daughters of the Nile: Egyptian Women Changing Their World by Samia I. Spencer ISBN 1443894575, 9781443894579 12 December 2016 [23]
Mahmoud Mukhtar was an Egyptian sculptor. He attended the College of Fine Arts in Cairo upon its opening in 1908 by Prince Yusuf Kamal, and was part of the original "Pioneers" of the Egyptian Art movement. Despite his early death, he greatly impacted the realization and formation of contemporary Egyptian art. His work is credited with signaling the beginning of the Egyptian modernist movement, and he is often referred to as the father of modern Egyptian sculpture.
Hussein Amin Bicar was one of Egypt's most prominent artists of the 20th century. After graduating from the Cairo's School of Fine Arts in 1934, he spent more than 60 years of his life teaching art at schools and universities and then through the press. Bicar is credited for initiating a style of journalistic art that elevated illustrating for newspapers to a level close to that of the fine art and is known for his simple and clear style reflecting the influence of Pharaonic art with its harmony, serenity and mysticism. Bicar's journalistic contributions go beyond illustrations to include art criticism and narrative poetry. Being the first Egyptian artist to illustrate Arabic children's books, Bicar has played a major role in establishing and promoting this field.
Evelyn Ashamallah is an Egyptian Contemporary artist, best known for her vibrant and surrealistic works. Born to a Coptic Christian family in Desouk, Kafr el-Sheikh, Egypt in 1948 to Ashamallah Eskandar Hanna and Elaine Mikhail Hanna. Evelyn Ashamallah married an Egyptian Journalist, Mahmoud Yousry and they have two sons, Bassem Yoursi and Salam Yoursi. Evelyn Ashamallah also has three brothers. Evelyn Ashamallah is part of the 1970s Egyptian generation which was prompted after the defeat in the Arab-Israeli War of 1967 to adopt a different trend from the realistic art that dominated Egyptian visual art in the 1960s. In the 1980s she moved to Algeria for a few years.
The Younger Memnon is an Ancient Egyptian statue, one of two colossal granite statues from the Ramesseum mortuary temple in Thebes, Upper Egypt. It depicts the Nineteenth Dynasty Pharaoh Ramesses II wearing the Nemes head-dress with a cobra diadem on top. The damaged statue has since been separated from its upper torso and head. These sections can now be found in the British Museum. The remainder of the statue remains in Egypt. It is one of a pair that originally flanked the Ramesseum's doorway. The head of the other statue is still found at the temple.
Abdel Hadi Al Gazzar was an Egyptian painter. He occupies a unique position among the artists of his generation. His membership in the Contemporary Art Group elevated his status as an artist through his utilization of social commentary in addition to the group's focus on traditional, Egyptian identity. This commentary is most widely recognized in his painting, The High Dam, in which he comments on the effects of modernization by the Egyptian government on society and their way of life. Since his death, his work has not ceased to challenge artists, intellectuals and critics both in Egypt and abroad.
George Abdel Masih Al Bahgoury or George Bahgoury is an Egyptian-French artist. An accomplished painter and sculptor, he is most famous as a caricaturist and political cartoonist.
Inji Aflatoun was an Egyptian painter and activist in the women's movement. She was a "leading spokeswoman for the Marxist-progressive-nationalist-feminist movement in the late 1940s and 1950s", as well as a "pioneer of modern Egyptian art" and "one of the important Egyptian visual artists".
Yehia Dessouki is an Egyptian painter and visual artist making contemporary art using diverse kinds of media both traditional and digital. He is also an architect, who graduated from the faculty of fine-arts, architecture department, of Helwan University. He has participated in many group exhibitions showing several art works featuring different themes, such as: Architecture of Old Islamic Cairo - Still Life - Lanterns of Ramadan Fawanees - Circus, and later on he made his first solo exhibition about "Joy of Roses" including soft pastel sketches and also oil paintings.
Kamal Amin Awad (1923–1979) was a pioneering Egyptian artist in the field of graphic arts.
Nazir Tanbouli is an Egyptian born artist. He was born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt and studied at the University of Alexandria Faculty of Fine Arts. His uncle is the painter Ibrahim El-Tanbouli and his great uncle was the painter and Egyptologist Lotfy El-Tanbouli (1919–1982). He works in drawing and painting, especially mural painting.
Richard Turner, also known as Turneramon, was a British artist and poet.
Mohamed Mahmoud Graffiti is a collection of graffiti that was painted on several walls in and surrounding Mohamed Mahmoud street near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt during and after the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
Contemporary art in Egypt refers to visual art, including installations, videos, paintings, or sculptures, developed in the Egyptian art scene. While the contemporary art scene is mainly concentrated in Cairo and Alexandria, it is developing fast with the emergence of spaces for artists, and support from the public or from abroad. Many Egyptian artists use the Egyptian contemporary art scene as a ramp toward the international art scenes.
Ammar Abo Bakr is a muralist and graffiti artist in Egypt. His work depicts the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, portraits, Egyptian history, and Egyptian pop culture, and can be seen on Mohamed Mahmoud Street and in other places in Cairo, Alexandria, Beirut, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Cologne and Frankfurt.
Adam Henein was an Egyptian sculptor.
Mahmoud Hemida is an Egyptian actor and producer.
Mohsen Shaalan or Shalaan was an Egyptian artist and deputy minister of culture, serving as the head of the fine arts sector from 2006 until 2010. He was ousted from his position in the Ministry of Culture following the 2010 theft of Van Gogh's Poppy Flowers from the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo. He later served one year in prison on charges stemming from the theft, which prosecutors argued was made possible by insufficient security under his watch.
Zeinab Abd al-Hamid was an Egyptian artist known for her colour saturated paintings of Egyptian cities. Abd al-Hamid used an array of media, from watercolours to oils. While art historians struggled to place her works in a single art movement, the general consensus is that her paintings are part of the Egyptian modernist movement.
Naglaa Mahfouz is an Egyptian writer, editor and artist.
Amna Elhassan is a Sudanese visual artist and trained architect, who lives and works in Khartoum. Her artistic work is often focused on the perception of Sudanese women in public and private life, expressed in a variety of media, including printmaking and painting.