Mutaz Elemam's Nile Visions at Shazar Gallery, Naples

Shazar Gallery in Naples presents Dream Scape from River, a solo exhibition by Sudanese artist Mutaz Mohamed Elemam (born Kassala, 1979). The show offers a personal interpretation of the Nile, the world's second-longest river after the Amazon. Elemam's canvases convey a melancholy of place, using bold lines that become nearly imperceptible and alternating strong and soft colors to depict the river's many faces and its vegetation. The river's appearance shifts with the time of day: from dawn and night in dark blues, blacks, grays, browns, and greens, contrasting with the bright yellow and red of sunset. White represents light, purity, and the sea. Elemam emphasizes the emotional force of telling the history, territory, and his own origins, highlighting the fascination of the "eternal river" that for about 4,000 years (from 3900 BC to 342 BC) enabled the development of Egyptian civilization. Some works evoke Claude Monet's impressionist water lilies, with nuances intertwining on the canvas to blur depicted elements belonging to Africa and its culture. The exhibition was installed in 2019, with photography by Danilo Donzelli.