El Mormah 2016

Alaa Awad painted "El Mormah" with what looks like acrylic or oil. It’s a bit like glancing at an ancient mural but with the lively energy of a contemporary hand. There's so much happening on the canvas! The textures are wonderful, thick in some spots, almost scratched and thinned out in others. Look at the horses – they're all legs, like spindly, energetic lines. The foreground figures are rendered with such direct, raw brushstrokes, which gives them a sense of immediacy, like the painter just dashed them off, capturing a moment. This piece reminds me a bit of Fernand Léger, with its simplified forms and interest in capturing the energy of modern life, but Awad brings a unique perspective, rooting his vision in the cultural heritage of Egypt. It's a reminder that art is always a conversation, artists build on the ideas of those who came before, but they transform those ideas into something new and uniquely their own.