“…I paint what I live, what I see and experience in my everyday life and from my rich tradi9on and cultural heritage. I live in a poor neighborhood in Alexandria, where all houses are stuck together and everybody knows everybody else . My canvases are filled with these crowds going by their daily business. The watermelon vendor in one pain9ng comes from Upper Egypt every summer to sell his produce, the tea lady who puts up the radio volume at 6am lives in the floor below me. I paint their feasts (moulids), picnics, zars (an exorcism ritual), their mourning rituals, and their legends like the 19 Storm legends that flourish in my city by the sea. In my neighborhood most people believe in magic and legends I am greatly influenced by the ancient Cop9c art, which was always depic9ng light coming from people. They are stunted from stress and life’s hardships but they are content with the liOle they have and just go on. They look at you from all angles and oQen up to the sky to the God they pray to save them from their miseries….”
If Salah Jahin (1930-‐1986) played a pivotal role in the development of Egyp?an colloquial poetry with an innate na?onalis?c flair, Alexandria-‐based painter Guirguis LoLy invented colloquial Egyp?an visual arts. Tirelessly, LoLy depicts our feasts, celebra?ons, rituals and tradi?ons that were or s?ll are part of our cultural fabric. Pharaonic, Islamic or Cop?c, LoLy offers a personal rendering of those liRle moments of bonding and shared history, of some trivial mundane scenes with simple ordinary people. His life in a populous neighborhood in Alexandria that s?ll believes in magic and folklore remains a primary subject. Describing his ar?s?c process as literally looking out his window and pain?ng what he sees, LoLy has shown an indefa?gable commitment to his people by bringing forth its homogenous character. As he genuinely captures the essence of our Egyp?an-‐ness, he reminds us that neither religion nor social status can tear us a part. Don’t let yourself be fooled by the apparent simplicity and naivety of his crowded pain?ngs! LoLy seeks to resuscitate an ancient Egyp?an elaborate pain?ng technique prac?ced 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. For Guirguis LoLy, the ancient serves the present and Egypt is both one and many. It is yesterday, today and tomorrow; it is his primary source of pride and he intends to make it eternal. In his third solo exhibi?on at ArtTalks, Guirguis honors Renée, his wife, the mother of his children and his life?me companion. Together, Guirguis and Renée bring the past into today to provide answers for a beRer tomorrow. When Guirguis is with Renée, nothing else maRers.
El Mouled, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 120 x 240 cm GL-‐601
Farah fi Shar3a / Wedding in the Street, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 152 x 152 cm GL-‐602
Baya3e el Ba=kh / Watermelon Seller, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 97 x 36 cm GL-‐603
El Saif / Summer=me, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 152 x 152 cm GL-‐604
Kahk El Eid, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 120 x 120 cm GL-‐605
El Tawba / Redemp=on, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 120 x 80 cm GL-‐606
Fakk el Sahr / To End the Spell, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 63 x 56 cm GL-‐607
Abaien Zein / Fortune Teller, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 120 x 80 cm GL-‐608
Ostoret el Sayad / The Legend of the Fisherman, 2015 Oil, gold leaf on canvas 120 x 70 cm GL-‐609
Mazad el Ba=kh / Watermelon Auc=on Market, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 121 x 121 cm GL-‐610
Nat el Habl / Jumping Rope, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 93 x 40 cm GL-‐611
El Rizq / Livelihood, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 74 x 37 cm GL-‐612
Baya3et el Ba=kh / Watermelon Seller, 2015 Oil, gold leaf on canvas 70 x 50 cm GL-‐613
El Bawwab / The Porter, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 63 x 56 cm GL-‐614
El Fares / The Knight, 2015 Oil, gold leaf on canvas 120 x 70 cm GL-‐615
El Soubou3 / The Kabsa Legend, 2015 Oil, gold leaf on canvas 118 x 67 cm GL-‐616
Fi In=zar Madfa3 el IUar / Wai=ng for the Fast Break, 2015 Oil, gold leaf on canvas 120 x 70 cm GL-‐617
Hadikat el Hayawan / The Zoo, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 190 x 80 cm GL-‐618
Saxophone Solo, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 102 x 102 cm GL-‐620
Om w AWal / Mother and Children, 2015 Oil, gold leaf on canvas 70 x 50 cm GL-‐621
Hadikat el Asmak / Fish Garden, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 132 x 36 cm GL-‐622
Om w Tefl / Mother and Child, 2015 Oil, gold leaf on canvas 70 x 50 cm GL-‐623
Tayara Waraq / Cerfs-‐volant, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 93 x 40 cm GL-‐624
El Qahwa / The Coffee Shop, 2015 Oil on canvas 120 x 70 cm GL-‐625
El La Nehaya/ Infinity, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on canvas 120 x 68 cm GL-‐626
EL Leil Lama Khely/ When the Night Ends, 2015 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on canvas 120 x 68 cm GL-‐627
Lady with Diamond Necklace, 2012 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 48 x 30 cm 61 x 43 cm framed GL-‐628
Lady with Pearl Necklace, 2009 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 40 x 27 cm 53 x 41 cm framed GL-‐129
Lady with a Diamond, 2009 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 47 x 40 cm 63 x 55 cm framed GL-‐630
Lady with Pearl Earrings, 2009 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 39 x 29 cm 53 x 44 cm framed GL-‐631
Man Portrait, 2009 Tempera, natural oxides, gold leaf on treated wood 47 x 29 cm 61 x 42 cm framed GL-‐632
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.arRalks.com info@arRalks.com Facebook Page: Art Talks Cairo Instagram: ArtTalksEgypt www.issuu.com/ArtTalks Opening Hours Daily from 11am to 8pm Fridays from 3 to 8pm