Art is no easy thing to comprehend nor is it an easy job to work in, but its reward is like no other.
Many high school graduates who choose to study fine arts are often met with objection from their parents under the belief that this field has no future. Perhaps, its future is unclear. However, artist Hady Boraey proves that art is a struggle with a valuable end product.
“Heaven’s Backyard” and the Story of a Journey
The opening night for the exhibition “Heaven’s Backyard” by Boraey took place on January 21 at ArtTalks gallery in Zamalek.
Boraey, born in Alexandria, has been in the journey of an art career for the past 15 years. In the last 10 years, he began to look into a journey related to travel and discovery – which is what “Heaven’s Backyard” portrays.
“Heaven’s Backyard” is chapter 4 of Boraey’s ‘exploration into the unknown.’ where “we are born into life with an identity that we do not choose. Then, we try to figure it out. Life is a long journey of discovery where we meet societies and people. This journey is hard but in the end [there is peace],” he said.
The concept of finding peace and comfort in heaven is expressed in the three holy religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Overall, the gallery looks into the ‘end’ that appears to be where people are ‘vibrant’ and ‘full of hope’ as portrayed in his paintings.
Walking around the gallery, one can notice an element of drama and romance with Boraey’s use of color and texture. Because life began with Adam and Eve, there is a love story in the paintings – even if subconsciously. “The romantic moments between Adam and Eve mainly tell that this is a good moment in life; a peaceful moment,” Boraey expressed.
The exhibition closely looks into the story of a generation’s struggles and because every generation has a struggle, every generation will be able to relate to the oil on canvas and oil on wood paintings.
Painting by Hady Boraey
“I am trying to tell the story of my generation. I am 36-years-old so I am telling the story of that time. We are a generation struggling and trying to reach a destination that we might not be sure of,” he shared.
The Journey of Becoming an Artist
Much like the story of the exhibition in terms of struggles, perhaps someone’s life struggle is to become an artist. Being an established artist and professor of arts, Boraey understands the difficulty in finding oneself in this career.
“I see that it is important for students to know the difference between being good at drawing and being a good artist. An artist does not have to be good at drawing. An artist is an explorer and has faith. Simply, artists need to have faith in the importance of art,” he said.
There is a thin line between art for the sake of loving art and art for commercial use. In theory, the faster route to monetary success is commercial art. However, “Art is not materialistic or commercial. It is a product and its value is that it tells the story of humans,” Boraey explained.
The decision to study art and working in art does not guarantee a path in fine arts itself. Boraey said that a lot of graduates from the faculty of fine arts do end up in commercial art anyway. For him, “this was a long financial and emotional struggle. It is a long journey that needs faith.”
Painting by Hady Boraey
Often, the way to open up someone’s heart to art is through upbringing. Boraey shared that as a child, he would often read a book about the life story of famous artists in his father’s library. At the time, he did not foresee his future in art but he had slowly become obsessed with drawing – even if scribbles.
Growing up in the Art Scene
Founder of Art Talks, Fatenn Mostafa-Kanafani agrees that growing up in an art scene helps encourage appreciation towards art.
Although she herself is not an artist and did not initially work in this field, Kanafani became interested in the field because of the environment she lived in back in Vienna as a student. “When you grow in an environment that appreciates art, it becomes contagious,” she expressed.
Kanafani sees that generally those who study fine arts are two categories: those who could not achieve high results in high school or those who actually have a passion for art. In both cases, families are usually skeptical of their child’s future in art.
“Becoming an artist is not a 9 to 5 job. It is a lifetime dedication to your philosophy of life. If you make it, you can be established and make a lot of money… but ‘making it’ is very tough,” she said.
It is also important to understand that becoming an artist is expensive when it comes to the tools, oils and brushes. That in itself is an investment.
“While we do see a very good trend of accepting art in Egypt, buying art and appreciating art, we are still far from where we should be…I am not an artist but if someone has a talent and has a passion for art, I encourage them to take the risk and go for it,” Kanafani said.
