Adam Henein, a bright and outstanding name in the history of the Contemporary Egyptian Art Movement, is an esteemed sculptor and incomparable painter. He is one of the most prominent contemporary Egyptian sculptors who revived Egyptian sculpturing in the early 1950s. He is also considered one of the most internationally renowned contemporary Egyptian plastic artists. Throughout his long artistic journey, Henein succeeded in forming a connection between his imagination and his reality through his artworks, which created an alluring magical and mystical world.
Henein’s connection to the art of sculpturing started in his childhood during a school trip to the Egyptian Museum. That day, young Adam stood in awe in front of a statue of Akhenaton. The following day, he took a piece of clay from school and molded a replica of Akhenaton’s bust. When his father, who worked as a jeweler, saw his work, he felt immensely proud and decided to display it in his shop’s window.
Henein studied sculpturing at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo, and then received a two-year sabbatical at the Luxor Atelier, which had a significant influence on his character as an artist later on. In 1959, he traveled to Munich to pursue his studies, and received a sabbatical in 1960. He traveled and lived in Nubia from 1963 to 1969, and then traveled to Paris in 1971 to participate in an exhibition of contemporary Egyptian art and lived there for 25 years. During that time, he only worked as a sculptor pursuing his creative journey, participated in various exhibitions in different countries, and was a judge at some art contests. He participated in restoring the Sphinx in Giza in 1991 and returned to Egypt in 1996 to found the Aswan International Sculpture Symposium. In 1998, he received the Egyptian State Merit Award.
Henein uses a variety of material in his work, including plaster, gravel mix clay, stone, and bronze. He creates artworks of different sizes that tend to convey an abstract depiction with simplified features and coherent elements; focus on the essence, tranquility, serenity, passion, and precision in highlighting surfaces through emphasizing the contrast between light and shadows; and deal with surfaces and the relationship between the statue’s outer borders and its surrounding void using colors. Henein’s work revolves around abstract themes, such as enlightenment, motherhood, and ascension.
In 2010, Henein donated a selection of his works to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), including abstract paintings on papyrus, executed with natural pigments, such as iron, chrome, and magnesia mixed with gum arabic; bronze statues, such as The Warrior and The Reader and other statues that masterfully depict the movements of birds and animals. His donated works are all displayed in a manner that allows visitors to marvel at and enjoy the fine value of the artworks, learn about a unique experience in the history of modern Egyptian art, and, at the same time, stimulate their imagination and enthusiasm to create art.
Henein established a museum in Harrania district in the outskirts of Cairo. It includes the gist of the artistic creations of the various stages of his life. The Museum is considered a forefront of art and meditative reflection and its uniqueness, richness, and originality render it a destination for all who are interested in plastic art in Egypt. Henein continued his journey by establishing a foundation, working under his name, with a qualified organizational structure that would continue to sustain his artistic history and support the art of sculpturing in Egypt. Subsequently, the Adam Henein Annual Sculpture Prize, targeting young Egyptian and Arab sculptors, was founded and several rounds of the annual event have already taken place, resulting in great success and foretelling a promising future for sculpturing in Egypt.
The selected collection in this showcase is samples of the works of the creative artist Adam Henein, which he implemented or crystallized during his stay in Paris, France, from 1971 to 1996. The importance of this collection is that most of its elements have not been exhibited before. It represents a window to Adam Henein’s very diverse art in rich simplicity.
Through this exhibition, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina is partnering with the Adam Henein Foundation for Fine Arts in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Adam Henein Museum in Harrania, Giza.