Lot 50

Issam Hafiez (Sudanese, born 1959)
Rise Up, 2013
Signed ‘Issam 013’ (lower right)
Mixed media on canvas
99.5 X 80 cm
KES: 300,000 – 400,000
(US$) 2,400 – 3,200
Provenance: From the artist’s collection

Once a mural artist, now a notable painter and photographer, Issam Hafiez graduated from the College of Fine and Applied Arts, Khartoum in 1982. Over the years, Hafiez’s approach has taken a very individual detour from the technique-based training of the Khartoum College. Pushing the material and aesthetic qualities of paint and mark-making to extremes, Hafiez imbues his works with a powerful urgency.

Hafiez has exhibited in selected group exhibitions in the UK, Egypt, Syria, the UAE, Eritrea, Uganda and Kenya. His work is included in several collections in Kampala, Khartoum, Cairo and Syria. His photographs can be found in the book ‘Darfur and the Crisis of Governance in Sudan: A Critical Reader’ which was published by Africa World in 2008. Hafiez is currently living in Nairobi, having fled the war in Sudan.