SOBHY GUIRGUIS – The Self and the Other

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SOBHY GUIRGUIS departed this world on January 20th, 2013 at the age of 83, leaving behind an unparalleled legacy of avant-gardism, modernity and humanity. His body of work rouses a certain awe by virtue of his selflessness, naivety and indefatigable commitment to artistic creation. Sobhy Guirguis was probably the most existential Egyptian artist of the twentieth century, beside Abdel Hady el Gazzar, and the most truthful to the child within the adult. The best works of

Guirguis take you to the limit of your capacity to be moved by art. Sobhy Guirguis, through his defiantly unconventional geometric abstraction of form, rejected the official prevailing academic-realism, creating a modernism that claimed to tap into the universal. As we enter the realm of one of the more perplexing artistic psyches of the 20th century in the Arab world, we soon realize how his art creates a profound and intimate experience. His sculptural or painted shapes are a

metaphor to his secluded life, an autobiography in a way, acknowledging his self and the other.  

SOBHY GUIRGUIS was born in 1929 in Cairo, Egypt where he lived and worked. Influenced by his father, a renown naie player in Om Kolthoum orchestra, Guirguis first enrolled to study music and then switched to arts. He received a

BFA, MFA and PhD from the faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo in 1958 and obtained a postgraduate diploma in Florence in 1964. He received the prestigious first prize for sculpture in the Alexandria Biennale for Mediterranean Countries in 1994 and the Grand Prize of the Cairo International Biennale in 1994 amongst many others.

SOBHY GUIRGUIS (1929-2013)

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Sculptures

Hope

STROLLING WOMAN Material: Brass Dimensions: 50 x 48 x 48cm SG-401

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THANK GOD Material: Brass Dimensions: 152 x 44 x 40 cm Serial #: SG-706

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AFRICA Material: Brass Dimensions: 83 x 82 x 54 cm Serial #: SG-700

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LIFE, 1976 Material: Aluminum Dimensions: 155 x 50 x 20 cm Serial #: SG-702

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ONE Material: Brass Dimensions: 250 x 95 x 45 cm Serial #: SG-703

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GO WITH THE FLOW Material: Brass Dimensions: 143 x 41 x 38 cm Serial #: SG-705

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HAPPINESS Material: Brass Dimensions: 20 x 14 x 7cm Serial #: SG-404

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PLAYFULNESS Material: Bronze Dimensions: 23 x 9 x 6cm Serial #: SG-317

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IF Material: Bronze and Colored Patina Dimensions: 23 x 18 x 10cm Serial #: SG-320

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IDEA Material: Bronze, Colored Patina Dimensions: 26 x 9 x 6cm Serial #: SG-403

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FORTUNE TELLER - CUP READER Material: Bronze and brass Dimensions: 77 x 40 x 20cm Serial #: SG-327

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FREEDOM Material: Brass and Bronze Dimensions: 64 x 34 x 26cm Serial #: SG-330

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PRAYER Material: Bronze Dimensions: 37 x 19 x 19cm Serial #: SG-247

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PRAYER II Material: Brass Dimensions: 42 x 47 x 28 cm Serial #: SG-505

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TRANQUILITY Material: Bronze Dimensions: 22 x14 x12cm Serial #: SG-324

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THE MERCIFUL Material: Brass Dimensions: 98 x 38 x 45cm Serial #: SG-300 Not for sale 20

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THE FUNNY ONE Material: Brass Dimensions: 65 x 42 x 32 cm Serial #: SG-713

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The Truth

THE SILENT ONE Material: Brass Dimensions: 66 x 22 x13cm Serial #: SG-226

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THE PROTECTOR Material: Brass Dimensions: 148 x 33 x 40cm Serial #: SG-402

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SOUL MATE Material: Brass Dimensions: 100 x 71 x 36cm Serial #: SG-209

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PERPLEXITY Material: Brass Dimensions: 160 x 68 x 44 cm Serial #: SG-707

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QUESTIONING Material: Bronze Dimensions: 32 x 9 x 10cm Serial #: SG-248

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WINTER Material: Bronze Dimensions: 36 x 10 x 10cm Serial #: SG-717

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THE WALL III Material: Brass Dimensions: 20 x 19 x 11cm Serial #: SG-328

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THE WALL IV Brass 20 x 19 x 11 cm Serial #: SG-328

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THE HUMAN Material: Bronze Dimensions: 14 x 8 x 7cm Serial #: SG-318

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PATIENCE Material: Brass Dimensions: 27 x 23 x 11cm Serial #: SG-319

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WISDOM Material: Bronze Dimensions: 50 x 34 x 20cm Serial #: SG-321

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RECLINING Material: Brass Dimensions: 50 x 116 x 35 cm Serial #: SG-261

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REFUGE Material: Brass and bronze Dimensions: 70 x 20 x 13cm Serial #: SG-325

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ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE Material: Brass Dimensions: 117 x 40 x 20cm Serial #: SG-326

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MEDITATING Material: Bronze Dimensions: 96 x 41 x 44cm Serial #: SG-285

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THE THINKER Material: Brass Dimensions: 94 x 28 x 22cm Serial #: SG-500

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SEATED WOMAN Material: Brass Dimensions: 45 x 21x 27cm Serial #: SG-502

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WHERE IS THE LIGHT? Material: Brass Dimensions: 66 x 38 x 41 cm Serial #: SG-503

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AND I CARRIED ALONE THE WEIGHT ON MY SHOULDER Material: Bronze Dimensions: 18 x 34 x 31 cm Serial #: SG-504

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APPEAL Material: Brass, bronze, wood Dimensions: 37 x 29 x 31 cm Serial #: SG-600

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TALK TO ME Material: Bronze and wood Dimensions: 59 x 14 x 19cm Serial #: SG-601

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YOU AND ME, HERE Material: Bronze and wood Dimensions: 69 x 17 x 20 cm Serial #: SG-602

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WHEN YOU TALKED Material: Bronze and wood Dimensions: 65 x 25 x 23 cm Serial #: SG-603

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THE CLOWN Material: Brass Dimensions: 87 x 56 x 39cm Serial #: SG-604 Not for Sale 46

SLAVE OF THE NIGHT Material: Brass Dimensions: 109 x 83 x 46 cm Serial #: SG-605

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CIRCLE OF LIFE Material: Brass Dimensions: 49 x 47 x 39cm Serial #: SG-607 NOT FOR SALE

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WHEEL OF LIFE Material: Brass Dimensions: 109 x 83 x 46 cm Serial #: SG-606

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ATTEMPT TO RISE Material: Brass Dimensions: 23 x 36 x33 cm Serial #: SG-701

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PERSISTENCE Material: Brass Dimensions: 33 x 46 x33 cm Serial #: SG-720

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CURIOSITY Material: Brass Dimensions: 134 x 70 x 28 cm Serial #: SG-708

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THE WRESTLER Material: Brass Dimensions: 115 x 50 x 63 cm Serial #: SG-709

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DEBATE Material: Brass Dimensions: 109 x 83 x 46 cm Serial #: SG-710

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STRETCH OF LIFE Material: Brass Dimensions: 60 x 110 x 53 cm Serial #: SG-711

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THE GUARDIAN Material: Brass Dimensions: 137 x 53 x 40 cm Serial #: SG-712

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LOOKING UP Material: Brass Dimensions: 120 x 69 x 50 cm Serial #: SG-714

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WONDERING Material: Brass Dimensions: 95 x 38 x 36 cm Serial #: SG-715

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SHEIKH EL BALAD Material: Brass Dimensions: 135 x 66 x 45 cm Serial #: SG-718

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THEY SAID ABOUT SOBHY GUIRGUIS: Without Sobhy Guirguis, Egyptian sculpture would have suffered a significant void. Makram Henein, Art Critic And despite their child-like appearance, Sobhy Guirguis’ works bring forth a compelling, mature feeling in his call to face the unknown. Ezz el Din Naguib, Art Critic and Author We have lost a pioneering, one of a kind artist, and we have gained, through his artistic legacy, a genuine Egyptian genius. Mostafa Razzazz, Author and Art Critic The works of Sobhy Guirguis became a landmark in Egyptian contemporary art.” Sobhy Sharouny, Art Critic and Author

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“I wanted to invent, to create, to break all the rules.” Sobhy Guirguis

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Founder Fatenn Mostafa +201003838500 Gallery Director Cherine Chafik +201003838100 Gallery Assistant Aynoor Zeitoun +201004777717 Gallery Administrator Lisa Lounis +201003970141 8 el Kamel Mohamed Street. Zamalek. Cairo. Egypt. info@arttalks.com www.arttalks.com Facebook Page: Art Talks Egypt www.issuu.com/ArtTalks +20227363948 +201005550585

Founded in 2010, ARTTALKS | GALLERY | EGYPT has established itself as a highly selective search engine for Egypt’s next generation of contemporary artists and an authority on   high quality secondary market works by twentieth century Egyptian masters and many of the most important artists working today. ArtTalks manages the estate of the late painter and sculptor Dr Sobhy Guirguis, a seminal artist who just passed away in January 2013.   Part of ArtTalks income is channeled into an Art Fund to support high potential emerging artists and to finance an extensive educational program aimed at growing the number of art collectors and art patrons in Egypt. We run a yearly curriculum on the history of Egyptian modern and contemporary art and invite scholars from abroad to give talks to the public.   Founded by arts patron Fatenn Mostafa, former CEO of Gianaclis Vineyards for Beverages and former advisor to Bozar, Center of Fine Arts in Brussels, Belgium, the gallery is committed to the defense of freedom of art in Egypt and to strengthen Egypt's position on the regional art map.