Arts Mart is pleased to announce the opening of its latest exhibition, “Omar El Nagdi: Fragments of a Luminary”, a retrospective show featuring eighty artworks of the iconic Egyptian artist, at its Cairo gallery space on February 5th, and continuing till March 5th, 2016.
As one of the most celebrated contemporary Egyptian artists of our time, Omar El Nagdi is a multifaceted master of calligraphy, expressionism, abstract art and philosophy. His paintings touch on the surrealist, the serene and the sensory, completely consuming the viewer in his intricate and complex masterpieces. The eighty artworks on display span El Nagdi’s prolific, fifty-year career, and include pieces from the artist’s personal collection.
The highlight of this latest exhibition will be the display of three 10-metre-long artworks: “The Last Supper in Jerusalem”, “Gaza and Rafah”, and “January 25- June 30” are all magnificent paintings capturing profound moments in our recent national and regional history through the artist’s eyes. This is the first time in history that the three murals will be displayed together in one gallery space.
About the Artist
Painter, musician and director Omar El Nagdi was born in Cairo in 1931 and studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, after which he continued his art education in Russia and Italy, graduating from the Academy of Venice in 1965. In the 1960s, he initiated a series of works for which he is still renowned today – based on singular forms of calligraphy, predominantly in the repetition of the Arabic numeral for one and the first letter of the Arabic alphabet.
“When I work, I like to work with no limits, that is why I like large format painting,” he says. “It satisfies me and gives the chance to paint a subject with all its elements and details.”
About the Artist
Painter, musician and director Omar El Nagdi was born in Cairo in 1931 and studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, after which he continued his art education in Russia and Italy, graduating from the Academy of Venice in 1965. In the 1960s, he initiated a series of works for which he is still renowned today – based on singular forms of calligraphy, predominantly in the repetition of the Arabic numeral for one and the first letter of the Arabic alphabet.
“When I work, I like to work with no limits, that is why I like large format painting,” he says. “It satisfies me and gives the chance to paint a subject with all its elements and details.”
El Nagdi is the recipient of sixteen Egyptian and international art awards, and his paintings have been acquired by museums and renowned institutions throughout the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in Cairo, the Museum of Modern Art in Venice, the Museum of Fine Art in Alexandria, the Museum of Modern Art in South Korea, the National Library in Paris, the Congress Library in the USA, the Museum of Pistoia in Italy, the Rasking Foundation in England, the Centre of Aesthetics Research in Italy, and the Museum of the White House in the USA.
A multi-disciplinary artist, he works in oil painting, watercolor, sculpture, etching, and mosaic, and has had his artwork exhibited alongside those of international greats such as Dali, Monet and Picasso. A renowned name on the international art scene, El Nagdi has had work sold at Christies’, most recently for US$137,000 in 2013.
“My art is rooted in my influences and styles; I am varied in my artistic directions and techniques,” he says. “I can paint an abstract painting, then later I can do an expressionist painting, and so on.”
