CAIRO.- Zamalek Art Gallery, Cairo, presents “Terra Cantus”, a forty-year retrospective of Egyptian artist Nazli Madkour.

This monographic show visually chronicles the development of self-taught artist Madkour, a creative journey that started with figurative representation, progressing into abstraction and eventually maturing into a communion of both.

While her technique has evolved radically over the years, there are continuities nevertheless; the early years of her practice were imbued with scenes from the desert, oases, the women who inhabit them and work the land, nature, foliage, dunes and mountains, rock formations and architecture-all would be elements that re-emerge subsequently in later years in one form or another.

For over eight years she travelled widely over Egypt, drawing and painting on location, she paid close attention to colour, line, textures and forms in nature; many of her paintings of that period were executed after preliminary sketches that are testament to that, small and detailed works that reflect an intellectual process as much as a technical one. She experimented with paint, composition, adding texture in the form of papyrus, palm bark and handmade papers.

A period of abstraction ensued, the canvases got bigger, the brushwork freer, more gestural and expressive, yet key elements from previous works remained. The colours of the desert and its flora were still there, permeating the painting though not featuring centre stage, they provided the backdrop of a more vibrant and dynamic surface reflecting a greater physical involvement and energy.

Abstraction organically evolved from figuration, but soon figurative representation reappeared in a series dedicated entirely to women. Although, on occasion, the entire human figure is sketchily integrated in the frame, much of the paintings of that series celebrate women, on their own and in their own right, in close up, frontal portraits. A decorative note of foliage adorns their faces adding a celebratory note that crowns their achievements.

Picking up on this integral element, a series of flora and foliage subsequently developed; the colours becoming more vibrant , the contrasts more pronounced and the shapes far more defined. “Foliage” marked a new milestone on many levels, although the process had become more intuitive, more layered and “substantial’’,it had also become more muscular and clearly endowed with the confidence that comes with seasoned years of practice.

Included in the current retrospective on show is her last body of work; started after the pandemic and up to date, a series of introspective landscapes that carry their own layered narratives and concerns. It brings together all the influences that have marked and shaped her practice and although the “rhythm” of the landscape has become more subtle, quieter, it remains deeply discerning and attentive to all the environmental challenges that concern us.

Nazli Madkour is an artist who is totally invested and committed to painting, unshaken by current trends in video art, installation or photographic digital manipulations, she has rigorously immersed herself in her practice with steadfast commitment.
The library is an essential component of her art studio, she reads avidly and while hugely implicated in the contemporaneous “art dialogue” of her time, she remains quite open to new lines of enquiry , negotiating the confrontation between innovation and tradition,modernity versus classicism.

Should a work of art appeal to the mind and eye in equal measure?

Can it be simultaneously sensuous and intellectual ?

Is it an idea or a feeling?

Can a feeling be elegant?

And so the beat goes on, in an age where much has been advocated about the “death of painting” , there will always be a public ,so deeply rooted in its humanity ,it will always seek the sensuous, sensorial feeling of a hand-painted work of art over a digitally manipulated image.

“Terra Cantus”, A Trajectory of artist Nazli Madkour is showing at Zamalek Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt from 21 April 2026 to 7 May 2026.

http://www.zamalekartgallery.com/#/artists/nazli-madkour