The Exhibition collection includes works by artists “Mounir Iskander” and “Sayed Saad El-Din,” emphasizing the dialogue of expressive drama in painting between two figures representing a hallmark of contemporary Egyptian creativity. Despite their differing styles and artistic languages, this serves as a conversation between two generations. Mounir Iskander belongs to the 1950s generation and was a student of the pioneer Youssef Kamel, while Sayed Saad El-Din belongs to the 1960s generation and studied under the artist Sayed Abdel-Rahman.
Mounir Iskander’s works are characterized by expansive, expressive brushstrokes, depicting scenes with a brush dipped in light, reflecting the depth of popular spirit. He tends to focus more on images and scenes from the Egyptian countryside, imbued with a visual dialect rich in greenery and natural clarity, portraying the return from the fields and rural life. His depictions of people transcend the realm of “portraiture” to engage with themes filled with elements that reveal his deep passion for portraying animals and domestic birds.
Sayed Saad El-Din’s works extend into the realm of painting through a tripartite expression that combines sculpture, architecture, and painting, creating a fantastical rhythm that takes us on the wings of imagination. While rooted in popular life, his art transports us to soaring horizons in a world where dreamlike figures abound. His works feature musicians, processions of Sufi gatherings, people in markets, children flying kites, and scenes of the Nile, palm trees, and sailing boats, as well as shepherds with sheep among dunes and palm trees, reflecting the gentleness of domestic animals alongside the kindness of farmers, and the daily lives of housewives. His world is completed with themes of national character, where his works symbolically embody meanings in scenes that carry a theatrical essence, capturing moments that reflect a cosmic state with a harmonious musical quality, merging visual melodies that flow between spaces, distances, elements, and figures.