Page 146 - Ahmed- Nawar
P. 146
houettes, which gives the work another spatial dimension, thus emphasizing the moving state
of the form within an abstract framework to which the artist was dedicated.
We also find in his works that the forms come out of their inner frames, taking us to the Persian
and Indian miniatures. Moreover, in his works, there is what is known as a frame within a frame,
which reminds us of what the Japanese artists invented as a dual composition, which they some-
times called “a competition of a frame within a frame”, which means the artwork contains more
than a framework intertwined within it. We can call it “forms within forms”. There is always in
Nawar’s works a mysterious, wandering, organic form flying in that strict geometry and looking as
if it was about to be shaped or to vanish, thus adding a human or sympathetic touch to the work.
Without that touch, the artworks would have fallen into the strict mentality problem. Nawar is fond
of science and technological advancement, but the scientific spirit does not make him lose such
a sentimental nature felt in his works. It appears in his bird loaded with symbols and in the green
plant that has an iconic dimension in his experience.
The Aesthetics of Technology
The aesthetics of machines resound in Nawar’s works of art. Their law echoes through intersect-
ing mathematical lines and arcs. Their pulse is monitored through recurrent graphic representa-
tions, turning the electric circuit into a beautiful, pure, linear miniature, the sharp geometric lines
into thin strings, and the wires into colorful earrings in one of Fayoum’s faces. Nawar chooses
deep dark tones for the technological structures and sets up parts of electrical devices on select-
ed pure backgrounds, giving them special magnificence and noble presence. It is the metaphys-
ics of technology, so to speak.
Nawar has presented a revelation of the aesthetics of technology; however, it is not fascinated
by machines nor techniques. He submits them to his will as an artist by presenting them in his
composition, passing them through the fabric of his will to provide them with the human mind, that
particular existence, taking them from their utility to his aesthetics.
In his drawings, Nawar ends the old opposition between sensibility and mechanism, especially war
machines and equipment that enjoy an aesthetic and expressionist character in his works. This
situation was raised by Roger Fry in his article "Sensibility Versus Mechanism" and discussed by
Herbert Read in his book "Art Now", in which he decided that the history of art proved that we can
have an organic sensibility resulting from an emotional reaction to life, and a geometrical sensibil-
ity caused by an emotional reaction to the mechanism. There is no opposition between sensibility
and mechanism. That mechanical or geometrical sensibility may have a special attractiveness in
our age for the appeal of the mechanical forms and the significant presence of machines in our
lives, especially those which are so functionally perfect that they are called beautiful, especially
those machines expressing some abstract notions such as speed, power, or precision.
The power that seduced Nawar and was presented in many of his works as a power of resistance
to evil and injustice was an appropriate equivalent to his bold stance on life, a life filled with work,
excellence, and pure love for the homeland.
In the end, Nawar painted a lot. However, the scene that he still dreams of drawing - as he always
says - is the scene of the liberated Jerusalem, free of captivity and violation of sanctities, so he is
still the Egyptian soldier with his fighting spirit. He still sees the world through the barrel of his rifle.
Amal Nasr
October 26th, 2021
144
of the form within an abstract framework to which the artist was dedicated.
We also find in his works that the forms come out of their inner frames, taking us to the Persian
and Indian miniatures. Moreover, in his works, there is what is known as a frame within a frame,
which reminds us of what the Japanese artists invented as a dual composition, which they some-
times called “a competition of a frame within a frame”, which means the artwork contains more
than a framework intertwined within it. We can call it “forms within forms”. There is always in
Nawar’s works a mysterious, wandering, organic form flying in that strict geometry and looking as
if it was about to be shaped or to vanish, thus adding a human or sympathetic touch to the work.
Without that touch, the artworks would have fallen into the strict mentality problem. Nawar is fond
of science and technological advancement, but the scientific spirit does not make him lose such
a sentimental nature felt in his works. It appears in his bird loaded with symbols and in the green
plant that has an iconic dimension in his experience.
The Aesthetics of Technology
The aesthetics of machines resound in Nawar’s works of art. Their law echoes through intersect-
ing mathematical lines and arcs. Their pulse is monitored through recurrent graphic representa-
tions, turning the electric circuit into a beautiful, pure, linear miniature, the sharp geometric lines
into thin strings, and the wires into colorful earrings in one of Fayoum’s faces. Nawar chooses
deep dark tones for the technological structures and sets up parts of electrical devices on select-
ed pure backgrounds, giving them special magnificence and noble presence. It is the metaphys-
ics of technology, so to speak.
Nawar has presented a revelation of the aesthetics of technology; however, it is not fascinated
by machines nor techniques. He submits them to his will as an artist by presenting them in his
composition, passing them through the fabric of his will to provide them with the human mind, that
particular existence, taking them from their utility to his aesthetics.
In his drawings, Nawar ends the old opposition between sensibility and mechanism, especially war
machines and equipment that enjoy an aesthetic and expressionist character in his works. This
situation was raised by Roger Fry in his article "Sensibility Versus Mechanism" and discussed by
Herbert Read in his book "Art Now", in which he decided that the history of art proved that we can
have an organic sensibility resulting from an emotional reaction to life, and a geometrical sensibil-
ity caused by an emotional reaction to the mechanism. There is no opposition between sensibility
and mechanism. That mechanical or geometrical sensibility may have a special attractiveness in
our age for the appeal of the mechanical forms and the significant presence of machines in our
lives, especially those which are so functionally perfect that they are called beautiful, especially
those machines expressing some abstract notions such as speed, power, or precision.
The power that seduced Nawar and was presented in many of his works as a power of resistance
to evil and injustice was an appropriate equivalent to his bold stance on life, a life filled with work,
excellence, and pure love for the homeland.
In the end, Nawar painted a lot. However, the scene that he still dreams of drawing - as he always
says - is the scene of the liberated Jerusalem, free of captivity and violation of sanctities, so he is
still the Egyptian soldier with his fighting spirit. He still sees the world through the barrel of his rifle.
Amal Nasr
October 26th, 2021
144
