Overview

Sharjah Art Foundation opened its first two exhibitions of the Autumn season on Saturday, 17 September, 2016, in the presence of H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Salem Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler and Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Sharjah. His Highness was given a guided tour of the exhibition Kamal Youssef: The Egyptian Surrealists’ Time Capsule by co-curators Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, and Dr. Salah M. Hassan, Goldwin Smith Professor and Director, Institute for Comparative Modernities, Cornell University, of exhibition.

On view at the Sharjah Art Museum and organised by the Sharjah Art Foundation and Sharjah Museums Department, this retrospective exhibition explores the distinctive paintings and sculptures of Kamal Youssef, an important Egyptian Surrealist artist whose career spans more than seventy years.

Also opening was Arnulf Rainer: Towards Overpaintings, an exhibition of works by the Austrian artist, which is on view in Bait Al Serkal. Curated by Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, the exhibition displays his distinctive experimentations in painting, sculpture and video, reflecting his fascination with madness, dreams and the unconscious.

The event was attended by diplomats, cultural officials, university students and members of the community including the Ambassador of Egypt, H.E. Wael Jad, Ambassador of Austria, H.E. Dr. Andreas Liebmann, U.S. Ambassador, H.E. Barbara A. Leaf, Ambassador of Luxembourg, H.E. Nicole Binter-Bakshian, General Consul of Egypt, Mr. Sherif El Bedewy, Japanese Vice-Consul, Mr. Masataka Sugimoto, Austrian Embassy Deputy Head, Mr. Nikolai Herold and the Chancellor of the American University of Sharjah, Dr Bjorn Kjerfve.

Arnulf Rainer: Towards Overpaintings will be on view until November 1, 2016, while Kamal Youssef: The Egyptian Surrealists’ Time Capsule will be running until November 17, 2016.

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