If Salah Jahin (1930-1986) played a pivotal role in the development of Egyptian colloquial poetry with an innate nationalistic flair, Alexandria-based painter Guirguis Lotfy invented colloquial Egyptian visual arts. Tirelessly, Lotfy depicts our feasts, celebrations, rituals and traditions that were or still are part of our cultural fabric. Pharaonic, Islamic or Coptic, Lotfy offers a personal rendering of those little moments of bonding and shared history, of some trivial mundane scenes with simple ordinary people.
As he genuinely captures the essence of our Egyptian-ness, he reminds us that neither religion nor social status can tear us a part. Don’t let be fooled by the apparent simplicity and naivety of his crowded paintings! Lotfy seeks to resuscitate an ancient Egyptian elaborate painting technique practiced two millennia ago in religious iconography and the famed Fayoum Portraits and uses bee wax or tempera colors dissolved in egg yolk and gold leaf.
