Egyptian painter (born in 1980, Cairo).
He lives and works between Cairo and Montreal.
Education
2021 MFA, Concordia University, Montreal,
2003 Bachelor of Fine arts, Painitng, University of Helwan, Cairo
Artist statements
Since the start of my artistic career, I have experimented with multiple art forms but have found myself most keen on drawing, painting and printing. I find myself always returning to classical forms as the drive for my own mode of self-expression, especially in regard to concepts that I am most intrigued by like the city, urbanization, and the social relations that develop within them. I always carry my camera around the city during my daily journeys to capture the presence of life in front of me, then for long hours, I go through the many spontaneous photographs that I took. I never know what caused me to identify with this photo or that; is it because of a strong presence? Or because of an absolute solitude? I am interested in the poetics of spaces and the aesthetics of cityscapes, Urbanism and What inspire me the most are cities. I consider myself as a cityscape artist, sometimes I work with deferent concepts but I always go back to make more and more work about cities, and how they represent a collage of lives and destinies of their residents and visitors; of finding and defining the similarities and differences between people, buildings, districts, and streets in multiple different cultures and creating a visual pattern of these concepts. I would like to understand the impact of the cities on its residents; how cities were created and evolved, and what is the history of the buildings itself. Also, I am interested in combining deferent art forms like poetry, photography, documents, drawings, maps and old photography to recreate realistic prospects that reflects my ideas. My work repeatedly involves sets of images that complement each other. I use photography and laser digital printing, following which I paint over them with watercolors and ink to recreate realistic visual concepts. This technique allows me to evoke realistic scenes that intensify a dreamy and mysterious dimension to the way I reconstruct my experience about the city.
Solo Exhibitions
2020 Gallery Misr, Cairo Egypt
2019 MFA Concordia University, Montreal
2018 MFA Concordia University, Montreal
2014 Mashrabya gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2013 Sukar Mazbot, Markhya Gallery, Doha, Qatar
2011 Routofaprik Zurich, Switzerland
2009 Wall 6 MekiasKhana, Cairo, Egypt
2009 Black Point Artellewa Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2008 10 Portrait Centre of Art and Nature in Farrere, Catalonia, Spain
2007 Drawings Khan Al-Maghraby Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
Group Exhibitions
2020 The Mureen Show (Online Version), Montreal, Canada
2018 Central Exhibition Hall, St. Petersburg, Russia
2018 The Anderson Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
2017 Kraftwerk Berlin, Contem, orary art from QatarBerline, Germany
2016 Firestation, Doha, Qatar
2015 50ms, Markhya Gallery, Doha, Qatar
2014 Masbiro, Darb 17/18, Cairo, Egypt
2012 Contemporary Egyptian artists, HANIKAH, Sarajevo, Bosnia
2011 Kunsthalle Luzern, Luzern, Switzerland
2011 Okk of Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
2010 Museum of Contemporary Art, Assilah, Morocco
2010 Korian Museum, Budapest, Hungary
2010 Cairo Documenta, Vinwaz, Cairo, Egypt
2009 The invisible presence, Mashrabia art gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2009 Daret Al-Founon, Oman, Jordan
2009 Different Visions, Sharja, UAE
2008 100 Millimetres Artellewa Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
2008 Contemporary Egyptian Artist Havana, Cuba
2007 Near the Sea Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland
Grants/Awards/Artist in residence
2016 Firestation Artist Residency, Doha, Qatar
2011 Prohelvetia Artist Residency, Zurich, Switzerland
2010 Montada Assilah, Assilah, Morocco
2009 The Rooftop Studios Project, Cairo, Egypt
2009 Youth Salon, Drawing Competition
2008 Center de Art i Natura, Catalonia, Spain
2008 Certificate of Merit, Egypt
2006 Critic Comity, Youth Salon
Links
http://www.mashrabiagallery.com/amr-el-kafrawy.html
http://www.misrgallery.com/Artist-20.html
Email amr_elkafrawy@hotmail.com
