Frieze London
9 October - 25 October, 2025
Testimony of the Soil presents Ibrahim El-Dessouki’s poetic narrative on the theme of witnessing, the culmination of a two-year transcultural reciprocal exchange on the subjects of history, painting, cinema, and literature between the artist and myself. This rich dialogue lends the exhibition its multi-layered and complex sensibility, providing a glimpse into the oeuvre of a fascinating painter who has made a substantial contribution to art history and visual cultures in Egypt, and beyond, both as a respected artist and academic.
FEATURED ARTISTS
Ibrahim El Dessouki
Artist
Born in Cairo in 1969, El Dessouki worked as a professor of painting in the University of
Fine Arts in Cairo from 1992 to 2017, where he became a full-time painter.
El Dessouki grew up in a family of painters interested in literature, translation and
Egyptology. He owes them his diverse background which extends from press
illustrations to literary, poetic and art critique translations, as well as archaeological
Discoveries.
He obtained his Master’s Degree in 1997 entitled (The School of London and British
Painting since 1945), and his Phd in 2003 entitled (Dynamics in Painting).
El Dessouki explores various themes and subjects creating different techniques in oils,
reflecting and referring to the essence of his chosen themes; between adding multiple
color layers, or scratching layers using sharp or soft tools to reveal the layers
beneath; between meticulously condensed details contrasting with completely flat
spaces; between a commitment to perspective at times and ignoring it at other times
in a harmonious manner.
Most of his work reflects and refers, and sometimes documents the Egyptian reality;
holding a hidden perspective between colors and composition.
FEATURED ARTWORK
