September 14, 1999 - January 23, 2000
Sculptures by Adam Henein and paintings by Farouk Hosny — both prominent artists working in contemporary Egypt — are the featured works in Farouk Hosny/Adam Henein: Contemporary Egyptian Artists and Heirs to an Ancient Tradition, an exhibition opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 14, 1999. The exhibition, which features more than 50 sculptures by Henein (of which 44 constitute a single installation) and approximately 34 paintings by Hosny, will remain on view in the Museum's first-floor galleries of Egyptian Art through January 23, 2000.
The exhibition coincides with Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids, the international loan exhibition exploring the full breadth of Old Kingdom (ca. 2650-2150 B.C.E.) art.
Commenting on the exhibition, Philippe de Montebello, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, stated: "This show of contemporary Egyptian art, which will be on view on the eve of the millennium, will provide our audiences with new insights into Egypt's rich culture, past and present. Even as themes and symbols from antiquity inspire their work, the two contemporary artists featured in Farouk Hosny/Adam Henein: Contemporary Egyptian Artists and Heirs to an Ancient Tradition reflect the sensibilities of the modern, thriving Egypt of today."
Sculpture by Adam Henein
Born into a family of metalworkers and trained as a sculptor at the Academy of Fine Art in Cairo, Adam Henein has found inspiration for his work in ancient Egyptian tomb paintings and in the rhythms of daily life on the Nile. Upon moving to Paris in 1971, he began to explore an alternative medium, painting, and his first works — small paintings on papyrus — were inspired by the symbolic forms used in Egyptian hieroglyphs. In his paintings and in his sculpture, the medium to which he subsequently returned, Mr. Henein gained recognition for the use of ancient Egyptian themes and traditional materials.
From 1989 to 1998, Mr. Henein headed the design team involved in the restoration of the Great Sphinx at Giza, drawing upon his experience as a sculptor to determine how the monument was originally carved. In 1998, he was decorated for his service by the Egyptian Government. The work of Adam Henein has been featured in one-person exhibitions in Alexandria, Amsterdam, Cairo, London, Nantes, Munich, Paris, and Rome, and in group exhibitions in Cairo, Calais, Casablanca, Dakkar, Ljubljana, Naples, Sorrento, and Spoleto. His commissioned works hang in public buildings in Egypt, Italy, and Saudi Arabia. Mr. Henein resides in Egypt.
Paintings by Farouk Hosny
Born in 1942, Farouk Hosny studied for five years at the Academy of Fine Arts in Alexandria, Egypt, and graduated in 1964. While serving in various cultural posts in his home country as well as abroad, he has continued to pursue a career as a painter for nearly four decades. As the result of an extended residence abroad, his response to the influence of contemporary art trends, and his participation in the cultural life of Paris and Rome, Mr. Hosny's style has shifted gradually from the realism of his students days in Alexandria — featuring depictions of the land and sea — to symbolic abstraction, termed "metaphysism" by the artist, after his graduation. In Europe, his style changed to absolute abstraction.
Upon completion of his studies, Mr. Hosny was appointed Director of the Culture Palace in Alexandria. In 1971, he moved to Paris, where he served as Cultural Attaché and Director of the Egyptian Cultural Center until 1978. In the following year, Mr. Hosny took up residence in Italy, where he assumed the position of Vice Director (and subsequently Director) of the Egyptian Academy in Rome. Returning to Egypt in 1987, he was appointed to the post of Minister of Culture.
Mr. Hosny was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Soka University, Japan, in 1994. In May 1999, he was elected to the membership of the European Academy of Science and Art in Vienna.
The work of Farouk Hosny has been exhibited in Alexandria and Cairo, in Paris at the Carrousel du Louvre, and in Naples, Spoleto, Rome, Vienna, Venice, Tokyo, Beirut, Jeddah, and Kuwait City. In 1998, Mr. Hosny was selected as one of 70 pioneer artists worldwide for a special exhibition in Paris organized by the French art magazine, Beaux-Arts. Mr. Hosny currently resides in Cairo.
Publication
Farouk Hosny/Adam Henein: Contemporary Egyptian Artists and Heirs to an Ancient Tradition will be accompanied by a 64-page catalogue. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the catalogue will be available for $19.95 in the Museum's Bookshop.
Educational Program
A lecture will be presented in conjunction with the exhibition. Caroline Williams, a lecturer at the College of William and Mary and an authority on contemporary Egyptian art will speak on "Images of Egypt: The Twentieth Century" on Friday, November 12.
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July 19, 1999
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