Khedr’s work was exhibited in the vast upper floor of the Ubuntu Art Gallery in Zamalek from 12 January until 1 February, the fourth in a series of exhibitions that form one solid project.
“The last three exhibitions mark a major change in my approach, when I decided to cast aside any images or even unformed pictures as possible inspiration for a new painting. This intentionally spontaneous technique has led me to pure abstraction. I stopped searching for an idea or inspiration, and depended more on coincidence and my spontaneous interaction with the white surface of the canvas,” he said in an interview at the gallery.
“I believe an artist should try new techniques and not fall into the trap of repetition. This particular journey started in 2019. It was like someone walking along the beach, collecting seashells as he found them. Painting with no plan in mind was letting go of my comfort zone, where I depended more on live models and photographs. Sitting in front of the canvas with only my memory was itself an adventure.”
Khedr started working on this collection in May 2024. He had no plans or sketches for the 45 acrylic on canvas and ink on paper paintings of various sizes. One larger-than-life painting suggests interwoven fields and flora, which by remaining unclear beautifully intensify the idea of the search. It mirrors fields from different countries the artist visited. Another, smaller canvas painting evokes a handmade patchwork where different vertical and horizontal triangles intersect. Tiny circles and spots of colours fluctuate on the surface, giving the impression of rain drops.
The recurrence of circles in the paintings is remarkable. Historically, circles can refer to the quest for spiritual sustenance. For Khedr the circle belongs to the smallest geometrical unit, which is the dot. “It refers to the beginning or transformation of a living organ. It also refers to the shape of the cell or the seed, which greatly inspires me. When I finished this collection, I came to realise that it was about blooming or reproduction of seeds or maybe something growing inside me.”
Born in 1970, Khedr is a graduate of the set design department of the Faculty of Fine Arts and holds a masters degree from Firenze, Italy. In 2008, after a career in computer graphics and interior design, he decided to paint full time. This is his ninth solo exhibition, and his Ubuntu exhibitions include Transit in 2019, 051 in 2021 and Once Again in 2023.
“I have always been interested in watching things grow and following nature’s renewal process and the advent of new seasons. This is why the paintings on show may evoke of nature,” he explained. Some paintings directly refer to the journey of searching for the unknown. One painting depicts what looks like a desert road. On the horizon, there is a small hole from which one could enter another, unexpected world.
The artist’s palette is rich and versatile. He uses light layers of acrylic, one on top of another, in a calculated way, which helps him to leave those small circles at the bottom of the canvas. With this sublime sense of transparency, paintings invite viewers more to meditate. “I am not sure about returning to figurative painting, but I would do that from a different perspective, depending mainly on my overwhelming memory of images.”
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Karim Farhan’s Puzzles on Memory’s Wall took place at the Cordoba Art Gallery from 22 January to 13 February, and it takes the viewer back to the pristine power of ancient images. His experimental technique, which draws on his graphic expertise, helps to make each painting looks like a wall depicting symbols and signs that might belong to the ancient civilisations of Iraq, Egypt, and Syria.
Born in 1958 in Baghdad, Farhan emigrated to Switzerland after graduating from the school of fine arts in Baghdad. Since 1983, he has participated in many group exhibitions in Iraq, Switzerland and the UK. His debut solo exhibition was held in Vevey, Switzerland in 1996, to be followed by 22 other solo exhibitions, mostly in Switzerland. He received the third prize for Painting at the Chianciano Biennale in Italy in 2011, among others.
This is Farhan’s debut solo exhibition in Egypt. As I roamed the gallery, it felt like exploring an authentic artefact. The collection of over 22 mixed media on canvas pieces, all sized 70 x 90 cm, looked like pages of an ancient book. With the letters and numbers depicted on every painting, it felt like a puzzle to be solved. The Remaining Formation, for example, shows a grey block of colour at the top, with tiny coloured boxes in the middle in which different symbols are depicted, followed by empty space. Finally, at the bottom, there is a mixture of grey spots and symbols. It suggests stages of remembering incomplete stories buried in our heads. In Hymns, two grey blocks against the backdrop of small boxes are fighting in an almost empty space. It may refer to an intentional struggle to erase our memories or identities.
Generally, the artist’s palette of colours is focused. It is limited mainly to brown, blue, red and black. In Imagined Legends, shades of brown and blue interact throughout the canvas. Yet, the choice is meaningful as brown is a symbol of the earth and blue refers to the sky. The meaningful struggle between the upper and lower forces might yield legends that in their turn have paradoxically lost their intensity in contemporary life.
This is the kind of art that provokes questions. It invites the viewers to rethink and reconsider settled assumptions and facts taken for granted. As I finished my tour of the gallery, I was haunted by existential questions. For example, what are our memories made of? Which should be erased and which kept? Can we find peace connecting with our memories?
* A version of this article appears in print in the 20 February, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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