Description
Shafik Radwan’s paintings are by no means idyllic fantasies of escape or reconciliation. Instead, the artist paints, with exquisite precision, the reality of his surrounding: men and women, elderly and children are depicted in moments of happiness and sadness, optimism and pessimism. They are no projection of the artist’s desire for a different reality, on the contrary, and with their sheer presence, they express the infinite potential of the actual; the characters inhabiting Radwan’s paintings are in and of the present, a present that, however, can never fully be grasped. Yet, the artist does not surrender to what announces itself as impossibility. To be in the present, one has to learn to read its signs. The artist takes this risk. In Radwan’s paintings a smile, a sunset, a flag, a hug, or a face speaks of the people’s shared hopes, desires, or disenchantment. And, painting becomes the medium that renders a troubled conviviality tangible.
TShafik Radwan’s paintings are by no means idyllic fantasies of escape or reconciliation. Untitled 6 by Shafik Radwan Instead, the artist paints, with exquisite precision, the reality of his surrounding: men and women, elderly and children are depicted in moments of happiness and sadness, optimism and pessimism. They are no projection of the artist’s desire for a different reality, on the contrary, and with their sheer presence, they express the infinite potential of the actual; the characters inhabiting Radwan’s paintings are in and of the present, a present that, however, can never fully be grasped. Yet, the artist does not surrender to what announces itself as impossibility. To be in the present, one has to learn to read its signs. The artist takes this risk. In Radwan’s paintings a smile, a sunset, a flag, a hug, or a face speaks of the people’s shared hopes, desires, or disenchantment. Untitled 6 And, painting becomes the medium that renders a troubled conviviality tangible.Shafik Radwan’s paintings are by no means idyllic fantasies of escape or reconciliation. Instead, the artist paints, with exquisite precision, the reality of his surrounding: men and women, elderly and children are depicted in moments of happiness and sadness, optimism and pessimism.Untitled 6 by Shafik Radwan They are no projection of the artist’s desire for a different reality, on the contrary, and with their sheer presence, they express the infinite potential of the actual; the characters inhabiting Radwan’s paintings are in and of the present, a present that, however, can never fully be grasped. Yet, the artist does not surrender to what announces itself as impossibility. To be in the present, one has to learn to read its signs. The artist takes this risk. In Radwan’s paintings a smile, a sunset, a flag, a hug, or a face speaks of the people’s shared hopes, desires, or disenchantment. Used To Be by Shafik Radwan And, painting becomes the medium that renders a troubled conviviality tangible.
