Under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, Cairo Opera House is hosting Rym Magdi’s art exhibition in the Etigah gallery, palace of arts at the Opera House grounds, between 9 and 25 April. The exhibition is open to the public from 10 am till 2 pm and from 5pm till 9pm on a daily basis. The exhibition is fully based on digital collage that includes photoshopping pictures.
Born in Cairo, the 29-year-old artist graduated from the Art and Design Academy, where she studied graphic design as a major. However, she also learned a lot about fine art inside and outside of college.
Although this is only Magdi’s second solo exhibition, she previously participated in a number of successful exhibitions and competitions, including the 24th and 25th Youth Salon in 2013 and 2014 and the Art Lovers Association in 2014.
There is no specific theme for this exhibition, as she usually prefers to not give titles to her artworks or exhibitions. She is always the photographer and model in all of her pictures.
“The artworks just represent personal feelings and thoughts, generalised and expressed or vice versa. I believe that art should be seen and felt rather than translated into words. I also believe in letting everyone relate to the artworks and interpret it differently through their own perspectives,” she added.
This exhibition displayed 16 art pieces, which took her three years of work. “Unfortunately, many things had slowed me down while working on these artworks; otherwise I would have finished in half of that time,” she noted.
All of the paintings portray women without any facial features. Magdi adopted this artistic school years ago, insisting that real art can convey messages without the help of any additional tools.
“I want the audience to just see and feel the message of each picture, without being distracted or relating it to a single face. As I mentioned before, I like to generalise the experience and the message,” she explained.
Although she believes that Egyptian audiences are not really used to seeing, experiencing, or tasting art, it is getting better these past few years in her opinion, as people are becoming more aware and educated about art.
“I received very nice and interesting feedback regarding my last exhibition. I was surprised that people with different backgrounds enjoyed it,” she added.
Therefore, she intends to experience new art fields, including the performance arts very soon. “The ideas never come to an end. I’m currently working on more of my digital collage and I hope people will love them,” she concluded.