Monday, January 12, 2009

Egypt captured by a Japanese brush

Al Ahram Weekly (Rania Khallaf)

The influence of the ancient Egyptian civilisation is far-reaching. Rania Khallaf celebrates the New Year with the Pharaohs painted by a Japanese artist

On 1 January, an exhibition of oil paintings by Japanese artist Kazzu Kinoshita opened at the Opera House Art Gallery. The 10-day exhibition, partly funded by the Japan Foundation and entitled "To Their Posterity: The Messages from Egyptian Pharaohs", takes the motif of antiquities of the ancient Egyptian civilisation as its main theme and includes works produced over the past 15 years.

The paintings are all huge: "The Tower", 183x326 cm, features the Pyramids; "Glow" features the Sphinx with a backdrop of trees: while "The Path" features the Sphinx with the Pyramids in the background.

Kinoshita was born in Hiroshima in 1942. He began showing his work at the age of 20, holding his first solo exhibition in 1971. He began painting Egypt in 1994, when his wife insisted that he accompany her on a tour of Luxor and Aswan. "I was really hesitant, because I seldom travel outside Japan," Kinoshita told Al-Ahram Weekly. "However, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the Egyptian antiquities and the natural scenery. I did not make many sketches during that visit; but when I went back to Japan I felt that something had ignited in me."


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