Born in Cairo 1974, Sameh Ismail studied Arabic Calligraphy in pre-college, and then he graduated from the Graphic department at the Faculty of Fine Arts, in Cairo. Ismail works on the Arabic Calligraphy as a visual unit, and as elements of the Islamic Art Heritage. The versatility of form of the Arabic letter, its 1500 years of vocalized and painted history, plus its centuries old visual cultureall complement his inspiration as a painter.In his research he uses surfaces cut in an extreme horizontal manner, then his canvases are painted and displayed either vertically or horizontally like ancient Egyptian scrolls. He uses sepias and blacks to signify age. The Arabic letters are not used as decorative motifs, but rather to recount a phrase or a meaningful sentence. His surfaces try to represent his very multilayered culture: Arab, Egyptian, Mediterranean and African, where writing and painting were paramount tools for several renaissances throughout history.
Born in Cairo 1974, Sameh Ismail studied Arabic Calligraphy in pre-college, and then he graduated from the Graphic department at the Faculty of Fine Arts, in Cairo. Ismail works on the Arabic Calligraphy as a visual unit, and as elements of the Islamic Art Heritage. The versatility of form of the Arabic letter, its 1500 years of vocalized and painted history, plus its centuries old visual cultureall complement his inspiration as a painter.In his research he uses surfaces cut in an extreme horizontal manner, then his canvases are painted and displayed either vertically or horizontally like ancient Egyptian scrolls. He uses sepias and blacks to signify age. The Arabic letters are not used as decorative motifs, but rather to recount a phrase or a meaningful sentence. His surfaces try to represent his very multilayered culture: Arab, Egyptian, Mediterranean and African, where writing and painting were paramount tools for several renaissances throughout history.