2023
Mostafa Rabia
•
Painter
Mixed media on canvas - 120 x 80 cm - 2022
At the heart of his work is the tension between structure and fragility, control and spontaneity. His use of color, form, and spatial arrangement reflects a city constantly under transformation, and a psyche negotiating the push and pull of belonging, alienation, and change. Rather than offer concrete narratives, Rabie invites viewers to interpret, to feel, and to navigate the emotional weight embedded in his fragmented visual worlds.
"Fragments and Forms: A Language of Deconstruction"
Rabie’s painting style is rooted in the act of fragmentation. He often deconstructs figures and spaces into layered surfaces, disjointed lines, and overlapping forms, creating compositions that feel like visual palimpsests. This deconstructive approach mirrors the instability and complexity of identity in contemporary life. He paints not with the intention of creating clarity, but of embracing multiplicity—where each layer conceals and reveals parts of a story, much like memory itself.
"The Urban Psyche: Mapping the Invisible" The city is a recurring subject in Rabie’s work—not as a landscape, but as a psychological and emotional territory. His canvases evoke the tension of urban density, the fragmentation of experience, and the loneliness hidden in crowded spaces. Architectural lines, geometric shapes, and shadowy figures often interact on his surfaces, creating a dialogue between presence and absence, structure and collapse. Cairo, with all its contradictions, becomes both setting and character in his visual narratives.
Mixed media on canvas - 140 x 120 cm - 2022
Mixed media on canvas - 140 x 120 cm - 2022
Mixed media on canvas - 90 x 60 cm - 2022
Mixed media on canvas - 100 x 180 cm - 2022
"Color, Texture, and Controlled Chaos"
Mostafa Rabie uses color with precision and intention. His palette often features muted tones—grays, beiges, and washed-out blues—interrupted by sharp contrasts or gestural marks that suggest internal turmoil. Texture plays a vital role in his paintings, with surfaces built up through layering, scraping, or spontaneous brushwork. The result is a visual tension between control and chaos, between the polished and the raw—a reflection of the emotional landscapes his work explores.
"Memory, Loss, and the Trace" Memory is at the heart of Rabie’s practice. His paintings often carry the sense of something that once was—traces of figures, erased marks, or ghostly silhouettes hint at a past that lingers. His works evoke psychological spaces where personal and collective histories are interwoven, altered, and reinterpreted. Rabie does not aim to narrate memory directly, but rather to present its residue: fragmented, unstable, and powerfully evocative.
Ink on paper - 27.5 x 19.5 cm - 2022
"Between Figuration and Abstraction: A New Visual Language" What distinguishes Mostafa Rabie’s work is his ability to navigate the liminal space between figuration and abstraction. His compositions oscillate between recognizability and ambiguity, inviting the viewer into an active process of interpretation. This hybridity forms the core of his visual language—one that resists fixed definitions and embraces the fluid nature of contemporary identity and perception. Through his bold experimentation and emotional depth, Rabie continues to push the boundaries of what painting can express in a rapidly shifting world.
