Safarkhan gallery presents a thrilling exhibition of paintings entitled “The Third Eye”, by Karim Abdel Malak. 

Abdel Malak explores notions of the soul and predestination, that everything that has happened or will happen os preordained by a higher power. “Opening our third eye is the only key to a purer and more meaningful world, free of material burdens, illuminating the spiritual realm, as we cross the bridge over from life’s misery, struggles and superficiality to one of tranquility, bliss, purpose and enlightenment,” he says.

In this exhibition, he delves into the complex relationships between  ego, body and soul, depicting the “continued oscillation between the body with its desires and the spirit with its purity,” and posing the poetic question, “how narrow are the walls of the body, yet how wide the cities of the soul?” He conveys this through a gently reimagined palette of blues representing communication and clarity, oranges representing emotion and greens alluding to the natural world and our inherent connection to it. The artist demonstrates a mastery meshing these colours, and adding more water elements to symbolise purity and cleansing. His use of animals has developed, with motifs of native Egyptian birds like the hoopoe symbolising healing and regeneration, as well as butterflies denoting metamorphosis, change, adaptation into maturity and beauty.

The exhibition also features new wire sculptures by Abdel Malak, and they have developed similarly, becoming more subdued, serene and organic in their colours and construction. His portrayal of female figures has evolved significantly in terms of realism. They appear more mature, as the artist and subsequently we are made to focus less on their outer appearance and more on their inner light, through which they derive their strength and poise. He evokes this through a quality of transparency in their appearance, as though they were see-through, mirroring their struggle to see through the veil of life. 

The exhibition runs through 12 April.  

*A version of this article appears in print in the 1 April, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly