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Kareem Mahmoud Helmy Elbasiouny – Egypt

Visual Artist

My name is Kareem Helmy. I am a visual artist, born and living in Alexandria, Egypt.

I start my recording with explaining what I believe about art. Basically, I don’t like to express more than I feel, or to pretend with complex ideas or complex concepts that I don’t feel. Whenever we do art, it is better to be more honest, more clear with our expression. You don’t have to do what other people do; you don’t have to have radical point of view. Just be yourself when you do art. This is my own point of view. Maybe some other artists agree or disagree, but there is no fact in art. We just express ourselves.

About my painting, I did painting at the beginning. Then installations and sometimes sculpture, but mostly I am interested in painting. I express myself basically by what affects me from the outer space. Somehow it is so confusing. Sometimes we worry what comes next. Maybe we worry what comes good or bad, and so we express what we face, both direct and indirect means.

In my paintings I care mostly between the technique and the concept, both. I don’t care only about them separately. I care about their interaction. I mix between the realistic and the abstract trends in art. Usually, I give the humankind more attention in paintings. Usually I try to make the surroundings more realistic than the portraits, not neglecting humankind, but to show how surroundings force us to do things we are even not convinced to do. So, we don’t choose; we are forced.

About my paintings’ backgrounds, usually you feel something goes wrong; you feel something mysterious, abnormal is happening. Maybe you are expecting an event; maybe you feel warped. When you see these textures, soft backgrounds, solid colors, you feel like it is a neutral, even dull, space. Even when you sit in a room, it is not a normal room; you feel uncomfortable. But I try to keep it balanced between textures and colors, so even though you will feel something is wrong, it somehow feels stable. That is what I am trying to do.

Email: Kareemhelmy84@hotmail.com