By definition, street artists express their message in public spaces, using concrete walls as their canvas. Banking on the success of street art and graffiti in Egypt over the past year, prominent street artist El Teneen experiments with a new venue, placing his stencil work within the confines of a small art gallery in Zamalek.
The Black and White Exhibition, which opened on February 23 at Arthropologie Art Gallery is showcasing the artist’s black and white stencils of some of the greatest icons of Egyptian cinema.
Set within a small, all-white room, the exhibition features 10 black-and-white images of stars such as Hend Rostom, Fouad Al-Mohandis, Ismail Yassin, Zaki Rostom, as well as Om Kolthoum and Fayrouz.
This is the second attempt for Egyptian street artists to display their work indoors. The first exhibition, This is Not Graffiti, was held at the TownHouse Gallery of Contemporary Art in September 2011, featuring the work of nine graffiti artists, including Keizer, Sad Panda, Adham Bakry and El-Teneen.
Despite the hype surrounding it at the time, the exhibition was somewhat lacking as it became obvious that not all the artists knew how to make as much of a statement when they were surrounded by four walls.
Unfortunately, the Black and White Exhibition suffered the same problem. While the stencil work was impeccable, and each piece stood out on its own, I believe the exhibition survives merely on the iconic value of the stars depicted in the work rather than the work itself. Otherwise, it just falls flat and feels rather empty.
Aside from the aesthetic value, there is also the question of artistic integrity associated with street art.
Even when world-famous street artist Banksy began holding exhibitions for his work in 2002, he was heavily criticized by the street art community for commercializing a form of art that is meant to be displayed for free in public places to send a message.
The artist himself was well aware of the issue and played it ‘tongue-in-cheek’ in his second exhibition, Turf War, where he painted an elephant in the middle of the room with the same pattern of the walls, bringing to attention the proverbial elephant in the room.
In Egypt, street art is becoming more and more popular, however, in my opinion; the artists are not yet mature enough to send out a statement with their exhibitions. Instead, what we’re left with is a small number of pieces displayed against four white walls, each selling for LE 500 to LE 1,000.
The only statement that visitors may come out with is that commercialization is a curse that eventually catches up with most forms of expression.
The Black and White Exhibition runs until March 3 at the Arthropologie Art Gallery, 13A El-Mar’ashly Street, Zamalek, Cairo.
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