Art News

Swiss museum accepted part of Nazi art trove

Kunstmuseum Bern which contains more than 1,200 artworks.

Swiss Kunstmuseum Bern fine art museum's president agreed to accept part of Gurlitt's Nazi-era. The collection of modernist masterpieces, which have been recently discovered, include paintings by Marc Chagall, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and more.

Anri Sala wins Vincent Award

The 2014 Vincent Award winner Anri Sala

Installation Albanian artist Anri Sala wins this year's Vincent award which is one of the most prestigious awards for contemporary art in Europe. Sala was able to beat four strong nominees including Gillian Wearing who won the British Turner award in 1997. 

Shanghai Exhibit

The 10th Shanghai Biennale 2014 exibit at the Power Station of Art shows China's new openness to the art world since it is a country with high censorship for media and art.

Visitors enjoying art pieces at the 10th Shanghai Biennale 2014. (Photo by Gao Erqiang)

Some of the art displayed use themes that are avoided in Chinese art academics for example. Through this exhibit the Beijing government is trying to inform the world that they are becoming more open to creative social criticism. 

MoAD Reopens 

The Museum of African Diaspora, which is located in San Francisco, reopened this week after six months of construction. Dramatic changes have been done to the museum to make it look more inviting like the glass exterior.

Artist of the Week

Dominik Lejman

Who is Dominik Lejman?

Dominik Lejman is a Polish artist who began re-exploring the boundaries of painting by combining videos with his paintings as early as the late nineties. H e has created a lot of amazing art and won various awards since then.

Lejman's Art
Dominik Lejman gives great attention to architecture and spaces. He also questions how these spaces influence or determine people's patterns of movement. Lejman's art is unique, inspiring and very provocative as he challenges the idea of what a painting should be. 

Artists are professionals
Dominik Lejman gives an explanation why people should not be offended by public art unless they really know what they are judging. Artists are professionals, just like doctors and lawyers.

Women On Walls

WOW Graffiti & Street Art 

I felt the need to write about Women on Walls since graffiti has become one of the most popular forms of activism. The art painted is quite powerful and speaks volumes of what some women go through.

What is WOW?

Women On Walls or Sit El 7eta (in Arabic) is an art project and campaign that uses graffiti and street art focusing on women's empowerment. Mia Grondahl and Angie Balata started this project in 2012 as a small art campaign with 20 artists. 
Soon, it grabbed the interest of national and Middle Eastern street, graffiti and visual artists and WOW became a network of over 60 artists working together in the streets of Egypt and Jordan.

Goal

WOW aims to use street art as a tool to raise public awareness  of Egyptian women and their situations and to send messages in support of women and their rights.

More information on their Facebook page and Youtube channel.

Artist of the Week

 Wafaa Mohamed Yehia

Wafaa Yehia is an Egyptian artist who was born in Alexandria 1998. I came across Wafaa's art when I went to the Arts-Mart event and I fell in love with her strong, diverse and vibrant paintings. She has the ability to attract anyone to her subjects and for some reason most of her work remind me of my childhood.

 State of Suspense

The Train Station II

 Her paintings reflect the blend of colours and flavours of her city of birth and they make you fall in love with Alexandria all over again as you reminisce through them.

Commuting

And they wait II

 What I really like about Wafaa is that she is not afraid to experiment with colours and different subjects such as urbanization, gender equality and social pressures on women in Egypt. 

It's a man's world

Art in Istanbul

Walking around Istanbul you see art everywhere, especially in Istiklal Avenue.

 

Art Exhibition Alert

What?

Artellewa's resident American artists, Jason Stoneking and Leslie McAllister, to hold final exhibition showcasing their artistic projects during their residency in Cairo.

When?

The residency exhibition will open on Tuesday 18th of November and will be open from the 20th to 23rd and from the 27th to the 30th of November.

Address: 19 Mohamed Ali El Seary St., Ard El Lewa, Giza

This is a video of the Cairo Dish Painting Initiative, one of their projects, which gained quick popularity on social media just a week after its launch.

Artist of the Week

Hossam Dirar

Hossam Dirar is an Egyptian contemporary artist in his mid-thirties that was born and raised in Cairo. I became a fan of Dirar upon seeing his painting 'silent beauty' at the Arts-Mart Exhibition. His work enticed me and I couldn't get enough. 

Cloudy day

Silent Beauty

Look at Me

The "Faces" series was the one that attracted me the most as the emotions unravelled by brush-strokes and use of strong colours make me wonder what's the story behind each face.

Gone With the Wind

 

Vanishing Charm

Peaple Revolution

We Made History

These videos are from when his paintings of the 25th Revolution were displayed in Paris and Vienna. 

First Arts-Mart Exhibition Experience

The Nile Ballroom at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza Hotel housed the Arts-Mart Gallery Winter Exhibition as some of Egypt's best contemporary and modern art was displayed.

The show hosted over 200 pieces of amazing artwork by both famous and upcoming local artists.

 

The art work displayed was really inspiring and made me want