“Tales of Scheherazade” solo exhibition by Egyptian artist Klay Kassem is scheduled to open on Wednesday at TAM gallery. 

In his latest body of work “Tales of Scheherazade”, he is deeply inspired by the masterpiece of Arabic literature One Thousand and One Nights. Fascinated by Scheherazade’s sophistication, intelligence, and charm, he began to weave the characters of his paintings and gathered inspiration from her travels through time, history, and the worlds that stream beyond our imagination. Entrapped in her shadows, he digs deep into this magical and colourful world that bursts with lessons of love, sincerity, beauty and purity that intertwine with our own real world.

Kassem’s unique persona and style make his work unlike any other; blends the beauty of Egyptian culture with his contemporary abstract, expressionist figurative approach.

Born in Alexandria in 1977, Klay Mohamed Abdel Aziz Kassem holds an MA (2008) and a PhD (2013) in art studies from the University of Alexandria. His paintings have been featured in numerous solo and collective national and international exhibitions in Muscat, India, Paris, Alexandria, Luxor and Sharm El Sheikh. He is the recipient of eight national art awards, including First prize at Nagy Salon in 1999 and the Grand Prize in painting at the Port Said Biennale in 2011, and his paintings are part of permanent collections at the Museum of Fine Arts in Helwan, the Contemporary Arts Museum in Luxor, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture in Cairo.

*The exhibition is on until 25 September.  

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 September, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly