CIRCLES IN THE SAND
SAYED SAAD EL DIN
By Fatenn Mostafa
Time goes by. And the years go past. And somehow and for some unknown reasons, we remain in love, infatuated by its sand, smi;en by its sun, struck by its Nile, burdened by its glorious past, and bonded to its people. Sayed Saad el Din helps us understand, put some reasoning into this piercing feeling of a;achment, of belonging to a land where kindness s@ll exists hidden underneath the sand, where warmth wraps the mind and soul past a blazing sun, where harmony is concealed behind turmoil, and where hope prevails, though tomorrow is capricious. And as we look at "the heart (which) has its reasons that reason does not know” (Pascal), it seems that Sayed Saad el Din may know aHer all. Because he chose op@mism over despair and because he chose beauty over exaspera@on. Saad el Din knows that our love can never end and will never end and lures us into a wonderfully sincere and touching world where perfec@on is no coincidence and mystery is the answer. And while Sayed Saad el Din a;empts to draw the veil from some of the ambigui@es that overshadow our life, he ceremoniously reveals the essence as well as the perfec@on that lie behind the imperfec@ons. He lays bare our ins@nct for freedom that cannot be reversed and that must grow to a powerful force if there is to be hope. Sayed Saad el Din ul@mately restores the greatest secrets to that enigma, in which we live and ever will remain. And that enigma is Egypt.
Like an architect, every detail is scru@nized and yet we feel the abstrac@on of the moment and the intensity of the simple chores repeated daily by ordinary Egyp@ans. Circles, wheels, hoops, ropes, spirals and balls smoothly float in the sky, gently spin on the sand, magically roll in the water, leading us towards infinity, like a prayer or a windmill – a passionate metaphor to the world we live in and to a country we are so a;ached to. Born in 1944, Sayed Saad el Din was raised and schooled soaked in the rus@c sun of Qena in Upper Egypt. AHer enrolling in the Faculty of Engineering in Minya to please his parents, he soon realized his genuine calling was in fact art making. Relentlessly in pursuit of his passion, he leH Minya at the age of 17, headed alone to the big capital, Cairo, and began his formal art studies at the Leonardo Di Vinci Ins@tute under the mentorship of modernist painter Sayed Abdel Rassoul. From then on, his life as an authen@c Egyp@an painter and sculptor would unfold, with scholarship grants, numerous local and interna@onal awards, public commissioning and residencies abroad.
Fishermen at Twilight Sold At Bonhams, London April 27, 2016 Oil on canvas 150 x 100 cm Price including Premium: USD 24,000
Temple of Philae / Maabad Philae, 2016 Poem by Ahmed Shawky Oil on canvas 120 x 80 cm SSD-‐101
The Laundry / El Ghasseel, 2010 Oil on canvas 90 x 100 cm SOLD SSD-‐102
The Return / El 3awda, 2015 Oil on canvas 120 x 80 cm SOLD SSD-‐103
El Kanasseen Oil on canvas 120 x 80 cm SSD-‐133
Hymn/ El Tarteel, 1977 Oil on pressed wood 95 x 130 cm SSD-‐127
Donkey Market/ Souk el Hemir, 1977 Tapestry, hand woven, natural colors Unique piece 168 x 235 cm SSD-‐132
The Race / El Sebaq, 2005 Oil on canvas 70 x 100 cm SSD-‐105
Livelihood / El Rizq, 2014 Oil on canvas 80 x 120 cm SOLD SSD-‐106
Pêche Sur Le Nil / El Sayad 3ala el Nil, 2012 Oil on canvas 50 x 70 cm SSD-‐107
Stone Children / AVal el Hagara, PalesWne, 1987 Oil on canvas 75 x 100 cm SSD-‐108
Under Siege / El Hessar, 2007 Oil on canvas 120 x 100 cm SSD-‐109
Under Siege / El Hessar, 2007 Oil on canvas 120 x 100 cm SSD-‐109
Dervishes / Daraweesh, 2009 Oil on canvas 130 x 75 cm SOLD SSD-‐110
Nile Journey / Rehla Nileya Oil on canvas 80 x 120 cm SOLD SSD-‐111
EgypWan Ballad / Rehla Masreya Oil on canvas 100 x 150 cm SOLD SSD-‐112
MeditaWon / Ta’ammul, 2015 Oil on canvas 100 x 150 cm SSD-‐113
Valley of Fourty / Wadi el Arba3een, 1980 Oil on canvas 95 x 65 cm SSD-‐114
Black & White, 1998 Charcoal on cardboard 65 x 46 cm SSD-‐115
Memory / Zikra, 1998 Oil on canvas 105 x 70 cm SSD-‐116
Hopscotch / Hagla Oil on canvas 55 x 46 cm SSD-‐117
Renaissance / El Nehoud, 2008 Bronze Unique piece 30 x 55 x 3 cm SSD-‐118
The Race / El Sebaq Bronze Unique piece 40 x 50 x 5 cm SSD-‐119
Sufi, 2009 Bronze Unique piece 60 x 16 x 5 cm SSD-‐120
The Sweeper / El Kannas, 2009 Bronze 83 x 25 x 3 cm SSD-‐121
Tale of the Fish / Haddouted el Samaka I, 2007 Oil on canvas 75 x 60 cm SSD-‐122
Tale of the Fish / Haddouted el Samaka II, 2007 Oil on canvas 60 x 75 cm SSD-‐123
Ball Dance / Rakset el Kora II, 2002 Oil on canvas 150 x 100 cm SSD-‐124
Ball Dance / Rakset el Kora II, 2016 Oil on canvas 120 x 80 cm SSD-‐104
The Vow / El Wasseya Bronze Unique piece 80 x 30 x 4 cm SSD-‐125
The Vow / El Wasseya Mosaïc Unique piece 116 x 85 x 4 cm SSD-‐128
The Dancer Bronze Unique piece 47 x 21 x 1 cm SSD-‐126
Founded in 2010, ArtTalks | Egypt has established itself as a highly selective search engine for Egypt’s next generation of 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. 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.
+2027363948 8 el kamel mohamed street Zamalek. Cairo. Egypt. www.ar;alks.com info@ar;alks.com Facebook Page: Art Talks Cairo Instagram: ArtTalksEgypt www.issuu.com/ArtTalks Opening Hours Daily from 11am to 8pm Fridays from 3 to 8pm