Bio
Egyptian/American artist Basil El Halwagy is the creator of the Fine Art Superheroes. El Halwagy creates wearable art-characters and produces performances and photographic works, in collaboration with contemporary dancers. El Halwagy draws inspiration from his experience growing up in Cairo, Egypt; a uniquely Arab, Egyptian, and metropolitan city.
In 2020, El Halwagy's photographs were featured in AREA CODE art fair, an online exhibition project curated by Octavio Zaya. In the fall of 2020 El Halwagy self-produced Origins Performance Series, A live performance series streaming on youtube and featuring the Fine Art Superheroes. El Halwagy has brought performance art to the Mills Gallery at the Boston Center for the Arts, Mobius Art Space, and FigmentBoston. In November of 2020, El Halwagy received the RedBull Arts and Culture microgrant, and in February 2021, he opened Two If By Sea, a solo exhibition at Atlantic Wharf Gallery in Boston, funded and supported by the Fort Point Arts Community.
Press Coverage:
Boston Globe, Huff Post, Masr Al Youm, and Others
CV
Grants and Awards
Red Bull Foundation Arts and Culture Grant. 2020
New England Foundation for The Arts: Funding to produce wearable art for ‘The Fire Within’ a dance performance about the Haitian Loa Erzule, created and choreographed by Jenny Oliver. 2016
The Boston Foundation: ExpressingBoston Initiative. production grant for A Fine Art Superhero Flash Mob. 2013
The Boston Center for the Arts. Movement At the Mills. Honorarium to produce a performance with Anikai Dance Company.
Vermont Studio Center: Full fellowship Artist Residency. 2006
St. Stephen Episcopal Church. B.-Safe Artist-in-Residence. Created wearable art projects with teen artists. 2011, 2009
Solo Exhibitions:
Two if By Sea. Atlantic Wharf Gallery. Boston MA, 2021.
Fine Art Superheroes I. ASB Gallery. Boston MA 2013
Metamorphosis Chamber. FPAC Gallery, Boston, MA. 2007
Pervading Purusha. The Artists Foundation, South Boston MA. 2006
Exploding the Drawings. Resnikoff Gallery, Boston, MA. 2007
The Common Denominator. University Gallery. Pittsburg, KS. 2008
The Common Denominator. Gallery 181. Lawrence, MA. 2007
Exploding the Drawings. Carberry's Café, Cambridge, MA. 2006
Selected Group Exhibitions
ACCESS: Art. Boston MA. 2021. Curated by Amanda Contrada and supported by the Boston Center for the Arts
AREA CODE. Boston MA. Curated by Octavio Zaya. August 2020
AVATARS/ghosts. Nave Gallery, Somerville, MA .2019
America to Zanzibar, Muslim cultures near and far. Children’s Museum of Manhattan.
The Middle Way. Midway Gallery, 2015. Boston MA. 2018.
USEA at Galatea Fine Art. Galatea Fine Art, Boston, MA 2014
The Triggering Town. Mills Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts. 2014
Earth to Heaven. Spoke Gallery, Boston, MA 2014
Islam Contemporary. Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, Pittsfield MA. 2013
M(i)(A)cro. A Contemporary Drawing Exhibition. Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS. 2014
M(i)(A)cro. A Contemporary Drawing Exhibition. New Art Center in Newton. 2012
Roxbury Artists. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. 2009
Egyptian Moments, Roxbury Connections. American Islamic Congress. 2012.
On Drawing… New Art Center in Newton, Newton MA. 2008
Contemporary Views III, Al Masar Gallery, Cairo, Egypt. 2010
The Space Between Us…, Brooklyn Art Library, Brooklyn, NY. 2009
Violence Transformed, Resnikov Gallery, Boston, MA. 2010
Acquainted with Night. Somerville Windows Art Project. 2007
National Drawing Annual, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH. 2006
Inside Out. Grossman Gallery, Boston, MA. 2009
Art Educators, The Next-Door Theater, Winchester, MA. 2010
Wearable Art, Lynn Arts Center, Lynn, MA. 2009
Graduating Students Exhibition, Grossman Gallery, Boston, MA. 2009
Works on Paper. Lynn Arts Center, Lynn, MA. 2007
Faith in Art. BHCC Gallery, Boston MA. 2007
Seekers and Visions. Gallery 181, Lawrence MA. 2006
Performance:
Origins Performance Series 1-5. Performance event produced for live streaming on YouTube during COVID-19 pandemic. Sept - Nov 2020.
Fine Art Superheroes at the Joy Parade with Nick Cave. 2019
Fine Art Superheroes at ArtBeat. 2019
Fine Art Superheroes at smART on the Street Festival. 2019
Interplay! IV. Northeastern Crossing. September 2017
Interplay! III: Northeastern Crossing. June 2017
Fine Art Superheroes at the Ignite Festival. 2017
Donagdeo: Transformation. Developed and performed by Telma Ha. Commissioned by The Children's Museum of Manhattan with Funding from the Doris Duke Foundation.
Electrostar: Synchronicity. Developed and performed by Marissa Molinar. Commissioned by The Children's Museum of Manhattan with Funding from the Doris Duke Foundation.
Interplay! II: Performed for the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center 10th anniversary.
Interplay! ExpressingBoston performance funded by The Boston Foundation
Doñagdeo: Mapping the Unseen. Written by El Halwagy, performed by Wendy Jehlen
Electrostar: Experimentalism in Mystic Reality. Written by El Halwagy, performed by Wendy Jehlen
Bibliography
J.Morrissey. A Children's Museum ‘Surprise Blockbuster’ A Show on Islam. New York Times. March 2017
J Fatima Martins. ‘M(I)(A)CRO: A contemporary drawing exhibition’. Artscope Magazine, May 2012.
Nancy Shohet West. ‘Exhibition explores links between science and art’. Boston Globe West. May 2012.
McQuaid, Cate. ‘High Marks’, Arts and Reviews. Boston Globe, May 2008
Hopkins, Randy. ‘Lines of Inquiry’. Boston Phoenix, March 2008
‘Newton Notes’ Newton Life. March 2008
‘Arts Listings’, Boston’s Weekly Dig. March 2007
Wulff, June. ‘Inward Exploration’ Boston Globe Sidekick. April, 2007,
Cantrell, Cindy. People: ‘A Foot in Two Cultures’, June 14, 2007
Shawkat, Nabil. ‘Between Two Worlds’ Beit Magazine.. February 2006
Ford, Rosemary. ‘Divine Art’, Eagle Tribune. September 2006
Education
2009. Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT). Arts Education, School of the Museum of Fine Arts & Tufts University, Boston, MA.
2002. BA, Studio Art, Wheaton College, Norton, MA