GUIRGUIS LOTFY -‐ LOVE AFFAIR
History may say what it wishes in the name of Egypt. Egypt, for me, is the most beloved and most beau:ful of things. I love her when she owns the earth, east and west. And I love her when she is down, wounded in ba=le. I love her fiercely, gently and with modesty. I hate her and curse her with the passion of the lovesick. I leave her and flee down one path, and she remains in another She turns to find me beside her in misfortune My veins pulsa:ng with a thousand tunes and rhythms In the name of Egypt.
Salah Jahin (1930-‐1986)
GUIRGUIS LOTFY -‐ LOVE AFFAIR It is not far fetched to draw the analogy that Guirguis Lo6y is to Egyp9an visual arts what Salah Jahin is to Egyp9an poetry. Both possess a rare ability to get to the core of the Egyp9an iden9ty and master the art of being close to the people. Their poetry or pain9ngs are of a colloquial, genuine nature yet command a profound effect. Both celebrate Egypt's uniqueness while not shying away from its shortcomings.Describing his ar9s9c process as literally looking out of his window and pain9ng what he sees, Guirguis Lo6y has shown an indefa9gable commitment to his country by bringing forth its homogenous character and highligh9ng the importance of unity and solidarity. Genuinely capturing what it is to be Egyp9an, he shows that neither religion nor ideology can tear us apart. In fact, Lo6y is probably the only Egyp9an painter who has a work depic9ng each and every Egyp9an feast, celebra9on, ritual and tradi9on -‐ be it Pharaonic, Islamic or Cop9c. In Love Affair, Lo6y's stunning canvases proudly immortalize our collec9ve cultural iden9ty and draw from our most important common denominator -‐ our popular rituals. Showcasing works from the early 1990s un9l today, Love Affair is a mini-‐voyage into Lo6y's unparalleled knowledge of these rituals, many of which are s9ll prac9ced in contemporary Egypt; others long forgoPen. His upbringing in a populous neighborhood in Alexandria, that s9ll believes in magic and folkloric legends, is his primary source of inspira9on. His use of beewax or tempera colors dissolved in egg yolk, an ancient elaborate and forgoPen pain9ng technique used in religious iconography and the famed Fayoum portraits almost two millennia ago, is his legacy to resuscitate and pass a pivotal part of Egypt's visual arts history on to future genera9ons. Guirguis Lo6y ensures the transmission of Cop9c art, which simply refers to an iden9ty rather than a religion.
Born in 1955, Guirguis Lo6y lives and works in Alexandria, Egypt. AVer receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Alexandria Faculty of Fine Arts in 1980, Lo6y went on to receive a Masters Degree on “Cop9c Pain9ng from the 4th to the 8th Century” in 1990. Finally in 1994, he was awarded a PhD on “Cop9c Art and its influence on Modern Art” from the Cairo Faculty of Fine Arts. Hamed Owais and Hamed Nada, two of Egypt’s pivotal modern pioneer ar9sts, were closely involved at different stages in the supervision of Lo6y’s masters and doctorate degrees respec9vely.
A Visit to the Zoo, 2014 Oil, tempera, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 153 x 153 cm GL -‐ 500
Miami Beach, Alexandria, 2014
Oil, egg yolk, tempera, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 153 x 153 cm GL – 501
SOLD
Montmartre, 1991
Oil, egg yolk, tempera, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 122 x 70 cm GL -‐ 502
El Hay Elazi Askon Fi, 2013-‐14 My Neighborhood
Oil, egg yolk, tempera, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 244 x 122 cm GL -‐ 503
El Balcona, 2014
Oil, tempera, gold leaf on wood Dimensions: 120 x 77 cm GL – 554
SOLD
The Fortune Teller and the Lovers, 2014 زﻳﻦ أﺑﲔ-‐ ﻋﻮه ﻧﻮة Oil, egg yolk, tempera, gold leaf on canvas Dimensions: 120 x 70 cm GL -‐ 505
SOLD
Coffee Time with Friends, 2014 Oil, tempera, gold leaf on canvas Dimensions: 120 x 70 cm GL -‐ 542
SOLD
Henna Eve, 2014
Oil, tempera, gold leaf on canvas Dimensions: 120 x 70 cm GL -‐ 543
Magic, 2014
Oil, tempera, gold leaf on wood Dimensions: 120 x 77 cm GL -‐ 551
Kahk el Eid, 2014
Oil, tempera, gold leaf on wood Dimensions: 120 x 118 cm GL -‐ 552
El Sebou3e, CelebraOng Child’s Birth, 2014 Oil, tempera, gold leaf on canvas on wood Dimensions: 122 x 80 cm GL – 527
SOLD
Fi Entezar el Tabib, 2014
Oil, tempera, gold leaf on wood Dimensions: 117 x 101 cm GL -‐ 553
Children’s Games, 2013
Oil, egg yolk, tempera, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 60 x 50 cm GL -‐ 506
Lady in Pearls, 2009
Bee wax, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 54 x 44 cm GL – 507
Lady with Red Necklace, 2009
Beewax, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 51 x 31cm GL -‐ 509
Lady with Gold Necklace, 2009 Bee wax, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 55 x 30cm GL -‐ 510
Woman with Blue Necklace, 2011 Oil, beewax on wood Dimensions: 55 x 32 cm GL -‐ 548
Woman with Red Necklace II, 2011 Oil, beewax on wood Dimensions: 42 x 33 cm GL -‐ 549
Last Supper, 2013
Oil, egg yolk, tempera, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 60 x 50 cm GL -‐ 511
The Holy Family, 2012
Oil, egg yolk, tempera, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 120 x 60 cm GL – 513
SOLD
Palm Sunday, 2013
Oil, egg yolk, tempera, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 122 x 45 cm GL -‐ 514
Mother and Child, 2011
Oil, egg yolk, tempera, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 80 x 30 cm GL – 515
SOLD
Lady with Fish, 2011
Oil, egg yolk, tempera, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 60 x 25 cm GL – 516
SOLD
Standing Lady, 2011
Bee wax, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 83 x 45 cm GL – 517
SOLD
Adam and Eve, 2011
Beewax, oil, tempera, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 67 x 28 cm GL – 518
SOLD
Three GeneraOons of Women, 2014 Oil, tempera on canvas Dimensions: 62 x 49 cm GL -‐ 544
Motherhood, 2011
Oil, beewax, gold leaf on wood Dimensions: 57 x 32 cm GL – 545
SOLD
Motherhood II, 2011
Oil, beewax, gold leaf on wood Dimensions: 57 x 32 cm GL -‐ 546
Lady at the Beach, 2004 Oil, gold leaf on canvas Dimensions: 100 x 70 cm GL -‐ 519
Fishermen Story, 2013
Oil, tempera, gold leaf on canvas Dimensions: 152 x 122 cm GL -‐ 520
Fisherman Family, 2011-‐14
Oil, tempera, gold leaf on canvas Dimensions: 120 x 80 cm GL -‐ 521
Lover boat, 1999
Oil, tempera, gold leaf on canvas Dimensions: 100 x 80 cm GL -‐ 522
Coffee Time, 2011
Oil, tempera, gold leaf on canvas Dimensions: 40 x 30 cm GL – 523
SOLD
Seven cows, 2011
Bee wax, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 85 x 25 cm GL -‐ 525
Agabi – Fig leaf, 2010
Oil, tempera, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 181 x 125 cm GL -‐ 528
Holding Hands
Oil, tempera, gold leaf on treated wood Dimensions: 122 x 70 cm GL -‐ 531
Lying woman
Beewax on wood Dimensions: 20 x 30cm GL -‐ 533
Fishermen with their boat, 2000 Pen on paper Dimensions: 70 x 50 cm GL -‐ 535
Boats on the Mediterranean, 2000 Pen on paper Dimensions: 70 x 50 cm GL -‐ 536
La Récolte, 1995
Oil on wood Dimensions: 100 x 70 cm GL – 537
SOLD
Le Port de Rashid, 1981 Oil on wood Dimensions: 67 x 170cm GL – 538
SOLD
Sufi, 2011
Oil, tempera, gold leaf on canvas Dimensions: 70 x 25 cm GL -‐ 541
Dinner / El Rizk, 2010
Oil, tempera, gold leaf on wood Dimensions: 50 x 40 cm GL -‐ 547
Founded in 2010, ArtTalks | Egypt has established itself as a highly selective search e n g i n e f o r E g y p t ’s n e x t g e n e r a t i o n o f contemporary artists and an authority on high quality secondary market works by twentieth century Egyptian masters and many of the most important artists working today. ArtTalks manages the estate of the late painter and sculptor Sobhy Guirguis (1929-2013). Part of ArtTalks income is channeled into an Art Fund to support high potential emerging artists and to finance an extensive educational program aimed at growing the number of art collectors and art patrons in Egypt. We run a yearly curriculum on the history of Egyptian modern and contemporary art and invite scholars from abroad to give talks to the public.
Founder Fatenn Mostafa +201005550585 Gallery Director Cherine Chafik +201003838100 Gallery Assistant Aynoor Zeitoun +201004777717 Gallery Administrator Lisa Lounis +201003970141
8 el Kamel Mohamed Street. Zamalek. Cairo. Egypt. OPEN DAILY From 11am to 8pm Fridays from 3 to 8pm info@arttalks.com www.arttalks.com Facebook Page: Art Talks Egypt www.issuu.com/ArtTalks +20227363948 +201005550585
Founded by arts patron Fatenn Mostafa, former CEO of Gianaclis Vineyards for Beverages and former advisor to Bozar, Center of Fine Arts in Brussels, Belgium, the gallery is committed to the defense of freedom of art in Egypt and to strengthen Egypt's position on the regional art map. 48