Mahmoud El Dewihi | Catalogue
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description
Sketching out the reality surrounding him in his hometown of Aswan, El Dewihi, born in 1978, diligently transforms his world into timeless creatures, mirroring ancient Egyptian sculptures and defying today’s struggles and tomorrow’s uncertainties. Whereas ancient Egyptian sculptors focused on glorifying their ‘masters’ turning them into Gods ready for the after-life, El Dewihi celebrates and holds in respect his ordinary country fellow men and women. While his creatures are no deities, they record and immortalize Egyptians’ utter sense of calm assurance and convey an impression of severe elegance – features that Egyptians have never lost despite the calamities they have been facing over the past decades. The weighty circumstances seem to have not had their toll on the world narrated by El Dewihi. His creatures are grand, almost too confident. Their gaze is intense with unclouded expressions and their posture domineering.
Transcript of Mahmoud El Dewihi | Catalogue
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B E N E A T H THE SUN A B O V E THE SAND
Mahmoud El Dewihi | Beneath The Sun, Above The Sand By Fatenn Mostafa
8 EL KAMEL MOHAMEd STR.
ZAMALEK. CAIRO
OPEN dAILY FROM 11AM - 8PM
FRIdAY 3 - 8PM
+20227363948 I
M A H M O U D EL DEWEHI
“He-who-keeps-alive” was one of the words used for sculptor by the Pharaohs. In fact,
Egyptian ancient art in all its forms obeyed one law: the mode of realistic representation of indi-
viduals – Pharaohs and deity in particular. Back then; artists endeavored to preserve everything
from their present as clearly and permanently as possible. The context in which the Pharaohs
wanted to view and experience sculptures was their world, their reality – with a stillness that
seems like a forced, temporary freezing.
This description seems to represent the core of Egyptian artist Mahmoud El Dewihi’s body of
work. Sketching out the reality surrounding him in his hometown of Aswan, El Dewihi, born in
1978, diligently transforms his world into timeless creatures, mirroring ancient Egyptian sculp-
tures and defying today’s struggles and tomorrow’s uncertainties. Whereas ancient Egyptian
sculptors focused on glorifying their ‘masters’ turning them into Gods ready for the after-life, El
Dewihi celebrates and holds in respect his ordinary country fellow men and women. While his
creatures are no deities, they record and immortalize Egyptians’ utter sense of calm assurance
and convey an impression of severe elegance – features that Egyptians have never lost despite
the calamities they have been facing over the past decades. The weighty circumstances seem
to have not had their toll on the world narrated by El Dewihi. His creatures are grand, almost too
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confident. Their gaze is intense with unclouded expressions and
their posture domineering. And despite their probable poverty
or lack of a job, they are proud and content. His peasant wom-
en whether standing or sitting are dignified, almost conceited, his
men crouching by the Nile, sitting with the knees drawn back, a
rigid arm keeping the body proudly straight, offer an overpower-
ing feeling that at any moment, they will come alive and speak to
you or simply straighten up and walk away. El Dewihi’s faces look
straight ahead, into eternity, and the body viewed from the front
is vertical and rigid, with all the planes intersecting at right angles.
The purity of line in Dewihi’s work suggests a restrained energy,
too shy to be set free and go wild. The aloof and solitary nature
is predominant but it is combined with an awareness of a warm
human personality beneath the impeccable lines and the bronze
or granite stone.
Hailing from the magical town of Aswan in Upper Egypt, one of
the world’s most prominent ancient quarry landscapes, El Dewihi
sources part of his material from there – namely granite, echo-
ing his predecessor Mahmoud Mokhtar, Egypt’s father of modern
sculpture. It is from Aswan that Mokhtar was to source the granite
for the most important and most symbolic work of art in modern
Egypt - “Nahdet Masr” or “Egypt Awakening” standing today in
front of Cairo University. The history of the grinding stone quarries
in Aswan stretches almost 20,000 years back in time to the late
Paleolithic era. In the present days, the quarry area is to become
an open-air museum, led by the living master sculptor – Adam
Henein. In fact, at the tender age of seventeen while studying for
a commerce degree, El Dewihi would cross Henein’s path during
one of the first Aswan International Sculpture Symposiums. For
the following fifteen years, El Dewihi would become part of He-
nein’s closest assistants and would learn his sculpting skills by
observing, working and assisting Henein on some of his most im-
portant oeuvres.
‘Beneath The Sun, Above The Sand’ is El Dewihi’s fourth solo
exhibition in Egypt. It marks an important step as he moves into
larger size bronze works, momentarily arresting time with his cre-
ative power to immortalize himself and others through his art and
contributing to the evolution of the idea of “Egyptianness” as a
national identity.
BIO
Born in Aswan (Egypt) in 1978.
He lives and works in Cairo.
Member of Plastic Arts Syndicate
2014
Ministry of Culture’s General Exhibition, Cairo, Egypt
2013
Solo Exhibition, Tache Art, Cairo Egypt
2012
Ministry of Culture’s Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt
2011
Group Exhibition, Khan al Maghraby Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
Group Exhibition, Al Masar Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
Group Exhibition, Kuwait
2010
The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan
Ministry of Culture’s General Exhibition, Qasr al Funoun,
Cairo, Egypt
Solo Exhibition, Al Masar Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2009
Ministry of Culture’s General Exhibition, Cairo, Egypt
Solo Exhibition, Al Masar Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2008
Ministry of Culture’s Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt
Environment exhibition at Saad Zaghloul, Cairo, Egypt
Distinguished artists Group Show, Cairo, Egypt
Bird Exhibition, Ahmed Shawky Hall, Cairo, Egypt
2007
Ministry of Culture’s Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt
International Symposium of Arts, Aswan, Egypt
2005
Egyptian Contemperary arts, Distinguished artists Group Show,
Cairo Egyptan National Exhibition, Cairo Egypt
Group Exhibition, Egyptian Contemporary Creative Arts,
Cairo Egypt
Ministry of Culture’s Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt
2004
Small Works Salon, Fine Arts Sector, Cairo Egypt
Ministry of Culture’s Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt
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Village Woman | El Fallaha. 2014
Bronze
85 x 32 x 17 cmBackFront
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On the Nile | Ala el Nil. 2014
Bronze
33 x 58 x 19 cm FrontSide
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Childhood | El Tefoula. 2014
Bronze
42 x 54 x 39 cmFront Back
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Bassant. 2014
Bronze
74 x 24 x 28 cm
El Sultana. 2014
Bronze
42 x 36 x 34 cm
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Rest | El Raha. 2014
Bronze
76 x 42 x 55 cm
The Intellectual Lady | El Mossakafa. 2014
Bronze
57 x 63 x 33 cm Front
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Side
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Nonchalantly | El Mestarkheya. 2014
Bronze
125 x 90 x 45 cm
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Fatah. 2014
Bronze
62 x 19 x 14 cm
The Bride | El Arroussa. 2014
Bronze
165 x 60 x 60 cm
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The Boat | El Markeb. 2014
Granite
70 x 22 x 30 cm
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