Il était une fois à Éden
IL ETAIT UNE FOIS GIANT CANVAS 800X150 CM QUADRIPTYCHE 200X150 EACH 
24-ONCE UPON A BODY-PERFECT 
23-ONCE UPON A RED 
21-ONCE UPON PURE RED 
20-ONCE UPON A SKY 
19- ONCE UPON A SKYHORSE 
17-ONCE UPON A TRAMONTANE 
16-ONCE UPON A CAVE 
15-ONCE UPON A GREEN GEBB 
7-ONCE UPON A DESERT 
8-ONCE UPON A DESRT SKY 
9-ONCE UPON A JACKAL 
10-ONCE UPON A LIZARD 
13-ONCE UPON A TIME ON BLUE 
14-ONCE UPON A WAND 
6-ONCE UPON A CAVE CAT 
6- ONCE UPON A GEBB ON SAND 
4-IL ETAIT UNE FOIS 4 
3-IL ETAIT UNE FOIS 3 
2-IL ETAIT UNE FOIS 2 
1- IL ETAIT UNE FOIS 1
Il était une fois à Éden
Il était une fois à Éden is an interdisciplinary project of mixed media
canvases, bronze-cast objects, wooden assemblages, installation, and
animated video screens. The project explores the transtemporal idea of
eternal happiness, or the happiness of eternity, by examining notions of hybrid identities, movement across time, déjà-vu iconography, and the relationship between the sacred and the ephemeral. For the past two decades, I have been trying to decipher the modes, methods, and models of ancient painters in their
early quest to communicate messages: basic, graphic, and adamant to
communicate ideas, even if such ideas defied reality and representation.
I believe that serious art can still be playful and ironic, colorful, and has a
narrative of its own: joyful and subrational. I play in my studio with total pleasure and serious disciplined working hours. I long to see the same joy with the engaged viewer.
Khaled Hafez
Cairo, 2019