Unique exhibition at AUC takes viewers through the drawing process
CAIRO: Art aficionados have the rare opportunity to witness the creative process in action thanks to a new show at the American University in Cairo’s Falaki Gallery.
Dubbed “Drawing Through Process, the show features 18 finished pieces accompanied by the early sketches, skeletal conceptual renderings and fledgling baby steps that preceded the finished product.
“It’s an attempt to show the bridge between how an artist begins a piece of art and how it allows them to develop the idea, says Brian Curling, the Falaki Gallery’s director.
The show, which launched on Sunday, runs until November 2.
“We’re usually not privy to this, says Curling, who notes that many of the sketches and other drawings on display – though initially unintended for audience consumption – are fantastic pieces in their own right.
However, while the Falaki Gallery’s walls are adorned with elemental scribbles and pencil sketches, for some artists, the early inspiration for a piece can come from an unlikely source.
Such is the case with painter Gamal Lamie, who found his muse in a lyrical poem he spotted in the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead.
In his piece “Sing Hymns of Praise, Lamie uses a verse of poetry as a means to explore themes of peace and harmony in an imperfect world – a world that often seems naturally prone to violence and hatred.
In particular, Lamie looked to one section of the text in which the god Nu says that evil will never overcome the forces of good – an optimistic message in any age.
“I wanted to sing a song for peace, says Lamie, beaming in front of his imposing black and white canvas. “(But) the world today is like a fire.We want to survive in this planet. We don’t want to live in war, we want to live in happiness.
As such, the poem is pasted on the wall next to the stark final product and its early versions – which are curiously rendered in color.
“The first sketch is in color and the finished product is in black and white – it’s backwards, says Lamie, who says that the colorless finale is symbolic of the destructive forces of hatred and extremism.
Celebrated artist Sabah Naim, meanwhile, displays how she creates her technologically intensive work by breaking down the piece’s elements for the viewer.
First, Naim snaps a photo of everyday Cairean street life. Then, after sketching out a second visual element, she enlarges the photo, reprints it on canvas and then covers everything with a final layer of paint.
Despite her innovative techniques, Naim says she has no qualms about revealing her secrets.
“Everything now is quite clear because the technology is in the hands of everyone, she says, adding that it’s the concept and the feeling – not the technology – that differentiates the artist.
Perhaps the most striking piece in the collection, however, is “Reflections by Hamdy Reda, a photographically documented display of one of Reda’s installation pieces that appeared in Switzerland earlier this year.
About 10 years ago, Reda realized that he was fascinated by the vertical lines created by trees within a larger forest, and by bending, morphing and developing this simple motif, he created an installation piece where photographs of forests are projected onto pieces of metal, which then reflect on the audience.
As such, Reda’s sketches of forests hang next to photographs of his installation piece and allow the viewer to grasp the complex and often idiosyncratic nature of the creative process.
“It wasn’t like this in my mind, says Reda, pointing to the finished works. “Things changed.things get added.
“Drawing Through Process runs at the Falaki Gallery until November 2Hours: 12 p.m. until 10 p.m., except Fridays during Ramadan.Falaki Campus, second floor, El-Falaki Street, Bab El-LoukTelephone: 797-6373
