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Mohab Elghaffar is an artist from Alexandria, Egypt, who uses intense abstract compositions to formulate connections between contemporary art practices and the symbolic imagery associated with ancient Egyptian civilization.

The moment of creation (1), mixed media on board

Mohab’s recent works in mixed media have a solid impact on the viewer. These compositions seem to embrace contrast, even conflict, in their use of alternating strokes of deep, saturated color and pale neutral tones. These works often incorporate bits of mixed media, textured materials attached directly to the substrate that are then layered over with heavy paint.

The front page of Mohab's portfolio website

The artist is very present in these works, many of which remind me of David Maxim’s portfolio. At first glance, they appear to be painted in large, grand gestures without much care for fine details, but upon closer observation one finds numerous small moments of deliberately different texture, and the occasional figurative form that seems to fade in and out of visibility on the canvas.  

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