Farida El Gazzar
Both Sides Of The Moon
Past
6 July – 18 September 2021
11 Haritos Street, Kolonaki
Kalfayan Galleries are pleased to present the solo exhibition of Greek-Egyptian artist Farida El Gazzar titled ‘Both Sides Of The Moon’. The exhibition at Kalfayan Galleries (11 Haritos Street, 106 75, Athens) opens on Tuesday, 6 July 2021, 18.00 – 21.00.
Continuing the multi-level visual research of combining the present and the past, collective and personal memory, representation of the monumental in dialogue with ‘lightness’, the Greek-Egyptian artist Farida El Gazzar highlights the greatness inherent in Kitsch. In her new paintings, Athens stars as the artist’s Alter Ego depicting the architectural and urban landscape as experienced and recorded in the memory of El Gazzar during long walks near her home in Athens. Unable to travel during the lock-down period and looking for elements that would allow her at least a mental journey to her second homeland, Egypt, her paintings are transformed into portraits of Athens where the East meets the West. At the same time, slightly distorted city-scapes, with vivid colors and almost a dreamy atmosphere, the works of Farida El Gazzar 'radiograph' the peculiar psycho-emotional state when our neighbourhood became the beginning and end of our empirical world, while they emanate a feeling of nostalgia and euphoria at the same time.
Artists
Farida El Gazzar
Farida El Gazzar was born in 1975 in Alexandria, Egypt. She is a Greek-Egyptian artist based in Athens. From 2003 to 2007, she was co-founder of the creative team WARDA. Her ongoing relationship with the Middle East is a result of her early years in Alexandria and Kuwait and has been realized more recently through her residencies and research in Cairo and Manama. Recent Exhibitions: Art d’Egypt 2019 and 2018, Cairo; ‘Opening Remarks’, Athr Gallery, Jeddah (2018); Art Basel Miami, solo show in Kabinett section with Kalfayan Galleries (2017) and ‘NP or the Possibilities of Life’ (locus Athens), Athens; ‘Dream City’, Gypsum Gallery, Cairo (2015); ‘Arabic Without A Teacher’, Kerameikos, Athens; ‘Ofthalmofanes’, Technopolis, Athens ( all 2010); ‘Rehang’, (curators: November Paynter and Sylvia Kouvali), parallel event to the 11th International Istanbul Biennial, Grand Hotal De Londres, Istanbul; ‘Thirty Posters on Migration’ IMEPO (Hellenic Migration Policy Institute), Syntagma Metro Station, Athens; ‘The Ultimate Experience’ Al Riwaq Gallery, Bahrain (all 2009). Farida El Gazzar is represented by Kalfayan Galleries, Athens-Thessaloniki.
Installation Views
