And Nathan Doss in a unique show at the Zamalek Art Hall
Nathan Doss
“Between Concept and Enlightenment”... a new exhibition by sculptor Nathan Doss, through which he seeks enlightenment and illuminating dark spaces in the collective mind. In it, he presents a “portrait” of two models of enlightenment figures, namely the dean of Arabic literature, Taha Hussein, and the Alexandrian philosopher Hypatia. He also sends a message of appreciation to his mother. Mrs. Enayat, whom he describes as “the first recipient of his work and his first supporter.”
The exhibition sends a message of hope to the recipient, and takes him on a journey through sculptures with diverse ideas and intertwined situations. Each sculpture has a story and a message, which he collects all of in his exhibition, which will be launched at the Zamalek Gallery, next Wednesday. Nathan Doss explains, in his interview with “Icon”, that enlightenment means that a person gets rid of the guardianship that he brought upon himself, and the breaking of the “taboos” settled in his minds, and this is what appeared in all of his works, including two portraits, which he describes as the core of his idea, and they are Taha Hussein and Hypatia say: “Taha Hussein is a literary and intellectual value. After his return from France, obtaining his doctorate there, and writing his book on pre-Islamic poetry, he suffered from persecution. He was expelled from Cairo University and asked to revise the book because of the value of Cartesian skepticism that prevailed in his thoughts.”
As for Hypatia, he points out that she was an Alexandrian philosopher in the fourth century AD, and the church feared her because the governor of Alexandria at that time was one of her students. They accused her of witchcraft and sorcery, dragged her through the streets of Alexandria, skinned her with snails, burned her, executed her, and threw her ashes into the sea, adding: “What I mean by these two examples.” Ignorance and backwardness can kill intellectual statures like them.” In white marble, he presented a portrait of his mother. He says: “If there is a seed of art in it, then I believe that my mother is the one who planted it. She is the first recipient of my works. And in my childhood, she was the one who shaped my toys, and very instinctively. She is a simple woman who did not go to school. She was a housewife in an agricultural community.” After my academic studies, I glorified my mother, like the princes and Caesars in the Roman and Greek civilizations. She was the first teacher and the first recipient of my work.” In his exhibition, “Doss” presents an interview between “the shepherd and the farmer,” in order to champion Egyptian history and geography. He explains: “The ancient Egyptian is the one who sowed wheat and built obelisks, pyramids, tombs, architecture, doctrine, and arts. Everything that the ancient Egyptian produced in terms of civilization is constant.” He explains that “Al-Rahaya” is a work that embodies a sculpted woman holding the key of life in her hand as if she were contributing to the grinding, and refers to the idea that life is like a mill in changing the appearance of people, from children to teenagers to young people and the elderly: “This change also means that the appearance of people changes through knowledge and the battle in research.” with life".