The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Currently showing at Mashrabia Gallery in Downtown Cairo is ‘Still Life’, the
latest collection of acrylic paintings by local artist and designer, Amre
Heiba. If you’ve never see Heiba’s work before, this exhibition makes for a
great crash course on his style with over twenty acrylic paintings on display.

In 1979, Heiba began working with an art group at the
Goethe Institute and has been participating in various exhibitions since then,
including solo shows and international events. This exhibition is Heiba’s first
public showing since 2008.

With decades of exhibition experience and three years
since his last show, one might expect to find a newfangled style or fresh spin
on Heiba’s old game. However, for the majority of pieces on exhibit, they
echoed of similar methods used before.

Obviously clever, the ironic title of ‘Still Life’ is
a mismatch for the collection in its entirety. Each piece swells with a feeling
of disorientation. Messy arrangements of human and animal characters are paired
with various representations of topics including time, space, and society; how they
interrelate, and are often indefinable.

These disjointed scenes of daily life travel from
painting to painting. Repeating the use of the same characters and topic
representations, Heiba organises and distributes their placement differently. For
example, in one painting, this pair of Tim Burton-esque, one-dimensional
characters are side by side with other imagery in the corner, where in another
painting, they can be found separated; dropping the concept of connection all
together.

According to Mashrabia
Gallery’s press release: ‘Amre Heiba’s new work creates for the viewer a sense
of disorientation. Although it represents scenes of daily life; time and space
remain undefined, almost suspended. Human beings and animals are part of the
scenes, but the artist treats them as objects, reason for this exhibition’s
provocative title: Still Life.’

Satiated in colour, the paintings provide a little
visual stimulation at first glance. There are also some fun characters used such
as the aforementioned elements. However in total, the exhibition lacked fullness
for this reviewer. For the majority of the paintings, most of the canvas was
covered in one colour block; leaving little room to really make out what Heiba
was going for in combining the characters and topics at hand.

If you’re looking to purchase a piece of Heiba’s work, price guides are
available on the gallery tables. The paintings range from 3500LE to 12,000LE.
The exhibition will continue showing until April 7th.