“Revolution of Faces” is the newest exhibition of the gifted artist Al-Sayed Qandeel, Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University in Zamalek. Currently on display at Picasso gallery, the exhibition showcases artworks that trace the artist's ten-year long art experience in which he experimented a variety of art media in the field of graphic art, drawing with pastel and oil colours, printing and engraving in all its forms: the deep, relief and surface engraving. He excelled in all these art fields travelled to Italy to deepen his knowledge of lithography. Unfortunately, most of the current artists have relinquished this type of art. Not so Qandeel. Lithography is a method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. Lithography originally used an image drawn with oil, fat, or wax onto the surface of a smooth, level lithographic limestone plate. The stone was treated with a mixture of acid and gum Arabic, etching the portions of the stone which were not protected by the grease-based image. When the stone was subsequently moistened, these etched areas retained water; an oil-based ink would be applied, sticking only to the original drawing. The ink would finally be transferred to a blank paper sheet, producing a printed page. This traditional technique is still used in some fine art printmaking applications. In modern lithography, the image is made of a polymer coating applied to a flexible aluminum plate. His creations are mostly abstract, very occasionally accentuated by creatures such as fish. Qandeel examines the potential of each wooden block and thus this becomes the starting-point for his artistic works. Born in Dakahlia in 1967, Qandeel obtained his BA in graphic from the Faculty of Fine Art, Helwan University as well as his MA in graphic in 1995 and PhD in graphic in 1998. The exhibition continues until 6 January.
