Mohamed Abouelnaga ( Egypt)

For many times, the first artistic choice is the framework. And in many times such a framework or canvas puts the work of art on a certain track which is in itself fruitful on one hand and problematic on the other. That is what I felt when I was contemplating the works of Mohamed Abou El Naga. This asserts that he has been doing an authentic research for aesthetic drives which by itself determines his artistic identity. Those feelings that overwhelmed me were not assertive but were questionable because they were concerned with creating the main foundation of the work of art through a technical, professional and handmade process.

It was customary to use traditional canvas such as paper or cloth. However, early on, many artists were renovating this and experimenting with new surfaces. The search for a new surface for a work of art is the source of a creative aesthetic choice .That is what Mohamed Abou El Naga did. His paper production as an artistic medium, is created from local materials and waste reflecting a human memory and a lot of hand work. I have never seen a similar artistic medium production such as that of Mohamed Abou Elnaga in his workshop. This procedure is magical, transforming the material into a visual surface capable of being an independent work of art.

A Maze of Senses

While touching these canvas with our eyes, we live its creation, its identity evolvement and its transformations. Our sight is then divided on the magical surface, the attractive technicality and the chemistry of colour. The colour here is identified with what it falls on and with the mingling of all materials. And so the colour becomes an impression. The colour creates the form and grants it vivacity, creating shadows of meaning and ghosts of forms. The form itself becomes an impression. This interactivity is like a game that is played in the heart of technicality and behind its back despite the artist’s intentions.

Accordingly, we find ourselves in the heart of duality: between the material and its effects, the intentional and the spontaneous, between the canvas and its obligations and between gravity and transcendentalism. In this last point the senses are lost and with it our aesthetic taste, to an extent that we feel, with our senses that apprehend the maze, that there is density in the work of art and an intermingling between the meaning of the canvas and the meaning of the artistic structure.

Farid Al Zahi

Curriculum