Photo Story: Reflecting elephant kindness in contemporary art

CAIRO – 14 December 2017: Al-Kahila Art Gallery is hosting an exhibition of Egyptian contemporary artist Ahmed Dafrawy from December 11 to 21, entitled “Gentle Giant.”


The Exhibition [Photo Courtesy: Taken by Rana Atef]

Through his 15 exhibited artworks, Dafrawy highlights the irony shown through the elephant. Despite its huge size, it is gentle and kind.

Following different painting techniques, Dafrawy mixes various colors in the same painting. For example, he mixes different degrees of green and red to reflect the mood of fatherhood and the elephant’s connection with nature.


Elephant and its son [Photo Courtesy: Taken by Rana Atef]


Elephant as a leader [Photo Courtesy: Taken by Rana Atef]


Walking elephant [Photo Courtesy: Taken by Rana Atef]

Dafrawy also focuses on social behavior of elephants such as moving in herds.


Elephants while moving in herds [Photo Courtesy: Taken by Rana Atef]

One of the masterpieces of the exhibition displays the elephant as a reflection of the world. Dafrawy includes many elements of everyday life such as women, churches, mosques, traffic, cars and houses in his piece.


Elephant and the world [Photo Courtesy: Rana Atef]

Born in 1982, Dafrawy is one of the most ambitious contemporary artists in Egypt due to his outstanding usage of colors and symbols.


Fragmented from a promotional material [Photo Courtesy: Event official Facebook page]

He participated in different exhibitions and received the Prince Nouf award at a drawing competition in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia back in 1993.


Fragmented from a promotional material [Photo Courtesy: Event official Facebook page]


Artist Ahmed El Dafrawy, his fiancé, his mother, and Al Kahila Art Gallery’s owner Fadia Rizk [Photo Courtesy: Al Kahila Art Gallery]


Artist Ahmed Dafrawy biography [Photo Courtesy: Al Kahila Art Gallery]