ARTISTS
Ahmed Gaafary: Prelude
It is withgreat pleasure that Safarkhan presents "Ahmed Gaafary"a unique contemporarytalent debut with us. "Prelude" will be exhibiting fromNovember 24th until December 29th, and promises to be thefirst of more to come, and a definite highlight of our new season due to his highartistic acumen and potential. This initial series of works we are presenting fromGaafary鈥檚 distinguished brand of abstract oil painting centers on hisinfatuation with the concept of communication in its myriad forms. Thisperpetual transmission of sentiments, thoughts and knowledge on the material,mental and spiritual levels, is the overarching preoccupation of this part ofhis artistic journey. Gaafary has placed his own unmistakable personal stamp onthe abstract figurative space in contemporary Egyptian art through his uniquestyle, one which defies the propensity of some abstract art toward being overlyvague, confusing or strange. Instead his canvases are relatable, humanizing andwith an identifiable profound message and purpose.
The word synesthesiacomes from the Greek words: 鈥渟ynth,鈥� meaning 鈥渢ogether鈥� and 鈥渆thesia,鈥� meaning鈥減erception.鈥� Gaafarywas an avid reader and admirer of the famed Russian-American author VladimirNabokov, who was a self-professed synesthetic. This curious neurologicalcondition in which information meant to stimulate one of your senses stimulatesseveral of your senses, often causes those who have it to associate words,letters, numbers and other things with specific colors. Nabokov firmlybelieved that novels should not aim to teach but instead elicit a higheraesthetic enjoyment through paying close attention to details of style andstructure. Similarly, Gaafary鈥檚 painting style thoughtfully partitions the canvasinto irregular blocks of complementary colors soothingly tessellated andconnected to one another.
As Sherwet Shafeicomments "From the mostimportant unique qualities of Gaafary is that despite his use of straight linesin the shape of squares rectangles and vertical lines we see that all his formstalk to us in a new language. This language is the life that we feel throughthese forms which represent the daily ritual of Egyptians in their daily life"
The elementof universal communion that Gaafary explores, whether it is from plants to animalsto humans to the great unknown, is a contemplative musing on the connectednessof all forms of life. Gaafary鈥檚 canvases hold a certain indeterminate property,as though they could be from any era from the distant past, the present or thefar future. It is almost as though he is using art as a form of encodedsynesthetic language that he wants the viewers to uncover and envelop all theirsenses in, intentionally keeping parts of this language concealed, to bediscovered only by the initiated or the enlightened.
It is withgreat pleasure that Safarkhan presents "Ahmed Gaafary"a unique contemporarytalent debut with us. "Prelude" will be exhibiting fromNovember 24th until December 29th, and promises to be thefirst of more to come, and a definite highlight of our new season due to his highartistic acumen and potential. This initial series of works we are presenting fromGaafary鈥檚 distinguished brand of abstract oil painting centers on hisinfatuation with the concept of communication in its myriad forms. Thisperpetual transmission of sentiments, thoughts and knowledge on the material,mental and spiritual levels, is the overarching preoccupation of this part ofhis artistic journey. Gaafary has placed his own unmistakable personal stamp onthe abstract figurative space in contemporary Egyptian art through his uniquestyle, one which defies the propensity of some abstract art toward being overlyvague, confusing or strange. Instead his canvases are relatable, humanizing andwith an identifiable profound message and purpose.
The word synesthesiacomes from the Greek words: 鈥渟ynth,鈥� meaning 鈥渢ogether鈥� and 鈥渆thesia,鈥� meaning鈥減erception.鈥� Gaafarywas an avid reader and admirer of the famed Russian-American author VladimirNabokov, who was a self-professed synesthetic. This curious neurologicalcondition in which information meant to stimulate one of your senses stimulatesseveral of your senses, often causes those who have it to associate words,letters, numbers and other things with specific colors. Nabokov firmlybelieved that novels should not aim to teach but instead elicit a higheraesthetic enjoyment through paying close attention to details of style andstructure. Similarly, Gaafary鈥檚 painting style thoughtfully partitions the canvasinto irregular blocks of complementary colors soothingly tessellated andconnected to one another.
As Sherwet Shafeicomments "From the mostimportant unique qualities of Gaafary is that despite his use of straight linesin the shape of squares rectangles and vertical lines we see that all his formstalk to us in a new language. This language is the life that we feel throughthese forms which represent the daily ritual of Egyptians in their daily life"
The elementof universal communion that Gaafary explores, whether it is from plants to animalsto humans to the great unknown, is a contemplative musing on the connectednessof all forms of life. Gaafary鈥檚 canvases hold a certain indeterminate property,as though they could be from any era from the distant past, the present or thefar future. It is almost as though he is using art as a form of encodedsynesthetic language that he wants the viewers to uncover and envelop all theirsenses in, intentionally keeping parts of this language concealed, to bediscovered only by the initiated or the enlightened.
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