Upcoming Event: Hiding, Marwa Adel
Art Sawa a leading gallery in the MENA region has over the past three years made a measurable impact on the Dubai Art Scene by championing both, well established, as well as emerging regional artists. Since its inception Art Sawa has introduced a host of artists to the market.
In the next in a series of well thought out Exhibitions from the gallery we see the contemporary imagery of Marwa Adel. Marwa Adel’s photographs speak about the struggles she has faced in her life. They express her desire to break free from the restrictions imposed on women by society and to be the person that she is rather than what society forces her to be. Her work is deeply personal, but it tells a universal story.
The Egyptian artist has a Masters degree in advertising and is a lecturer at the Faculty of Applied Art at Helwan University, Cairo. Since the beginning of her career, Marwa has defied traditional norms by using pictures of the human body in her work. And she has won many awards for her bold and powerful creations.
Marwa’s artworks combine carefully posed photographs of models with symbols of fragility such as leaves, flowers and torn paper. Her wedding dress and veil also appear in the pictures as a reminder of bitter sweet memories. She also adds digital textures, light effects and pieces of her calligraphic paintings to create beautiful and eloquent compositions.
In ‘Hiding’, her latest series of photographic works, the artist explores the infinite conflict and the state of contradiction and antagonism that is part of our existence. Once again, she uses the bare human body as a metaphor for the thoughts and feelings hidden inside it. The anonymous women in Marwa’s photographs appear fragile and lonely. Their eyes are covered, yet you can feel the sea of emotions surging within. Their bodies are exposed, yet they conceal their thoughts, desires and feelings. These women represent no one and everyone. They hide their identity and try to look like everyone else because they want to be accepted by society.
