Paintings and drawings, oil on canvas, oil pastel on paper, various sizes 2003
A State of Contradiction was my first attempt to develop a personal visual language, made during my final year of undergraduate study. Alongside formalistic concerns, socio-political questions had begun to occupy me. The work responds to a contradiction I was sensing around me at the time: the simultaneous rise of a conservative Islamic current and the perceived spread of American culture into other parts of Egyptian society. For me, this tension pointed to a deeper question — one I have continued to pursue since: the definition of an Egyptian identity that has been shaped and reshaped across thousands of years.
Oil on canvas, 240 × 150 cm, 2003A State of Contradiction – 2003Oil on canvas, 120 × 70 cm, 2003Oil on canvas, 120 × 70 cm, 2003Oil on canvas, 120 × 70 cm, 2003Oil on canvas, 120 × 70 cm, 2003Oil pastel on paper, 35 × 50 cm, 2003Oil pastel on paper, 35 × 50 cm, 2003Oil pastel on paper, 35 × 50 cm, 2003Oil pastel on paper, 35 × 50 cm, 2003 (Property of Shahir Wadee’)Oil pastel on paper, 35 × 50 cm, 2003Oil pastel on paper, 35 × 50 cm, 2003Oil pastel on paper, 50 × 70 cm, 2003 (Property of Fadwa Ibrahim Timo)Oil pastel on paper, 35 × 50 cm, 2003Oil pastel on paper, 35 × 50 cm, 2003Oil pastel on paper, 35 × 50 cm, 2003Oil pastel on paper, 35 × 50 cm, 2003Oil pastel on paper, 35 × 50 cm, 2003Oil pastel on paper, 35 × 50 cm, 2003Oil pastel on paper, 17 × 35 cm, 2003 (Property of Tamer Abu Ghazaleh)
Bassem Yousri 