Doc Hamdy Biography
Doc Hamdy is an independent visual artist, He doesn't apply for competitions or residencies or seek exhibitions. He was Born in June 1971, in Alexandria, Egypt but didn’t stay in one city or country for longer than 3 years until he was 18, when he enrolled in Medical School at Alexandria University and earned his MB, ChB.
After Graduating from Medicine and Practicing for some years he quit medical practice to pursue a more creative path. Some years in the Advertising and Marketing field satisfied his natural need to create, but there were limits dictated by clients and markets; eventually leading him to discover that he could unleash his creative spirits on canvas.
The first painting was completed in January 2003 and during the period from 2003 to 2005 he created very personal works at a rate that could only compensate for the years wasted in the wrong careers. In 2006 he moved to Cairo for the interpersonal experience of dealing with the “Art” crowd which led to a different yet no less intense set of works; that period did however lead to thoughts on politics and the corruption that he witnessed in the Cairo art scene and by the end of 2007 he moved back to Alexandria with healthy peaceful existence in mind. During 2008 and 2009 the rate of production was lower yet some of the works are considered to be a conclusion to the earlier years.
The phase from 2003-2009 is regarded as his “Experimental Expressionism” Phase, and most of the works of that phase were signed “Marco” in Arabic - ماركو. There was a growing circle of supporters during that phase particularly online and many works were sold in different countries.
Since 2009 political interest grew and Doc Hamdy was getting more involved in the popular movements against the regime and the ruling party and in 2011 Egypt witnessed what at the time was considered a “Revolution”. Interest in Politics peaked as for the first time there was a chance to exercise the very basic right of any civilized human to elect representatives and leaders, so until 2012 there was a consumption with doing it right.
Then the people chose and that was it. One year later, a military coup d’etat took place supported by hundreds of thousands of mindless citizens and amplified by the MI controlled media. For a few months there was a struggle and maybe a naive hope that this could be reversed, but very soon it was apparent that that was it!
The Coup d’etat, the massive disappointment in the majority of the people, and a lot of personal issues led to a Very Deep Dark Seclusive phase that lasted until July 2018. This period of non-production 2009-2018 is referred to as the dark period (2015-2018 Black period) in which Doc Hamdy, not only didn’t paint, but also battled with severe personal traumas and recalled memories from the past to complete a very difficult jigsaw puzzle of who he is and why is it so.
In July 2018 Doc Hamdy ended this phase by the sheer desire to escape it. And probably the only major decision he took was to revisit his Art career again. The scene had changed, he had no studio and the old circle had disintegrated; so he to start anew. An online portfolio on saatchi, reestablishing his studio and creating a circle took a few months but before the end of 2018 there is a readiness for new work.
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