Always in Egypt

Kamal Youssef has been painting for nearly 70 years. In that time, the Egyptian-born artist - who simply goes by the name Kamal - has lived a life eventful enough for several men.

He helped bring about changes in the Egyptian art world as part of the avant garde groups "Art et Liberte" and "Groupe de L'Art Contemporain."

He and his "Contemporain" collaborators exhibited their works in Paris during the 1950s, when artists like Pablo Picasso had made the city the center of the European art world.

Settling in Pennsylvania in the mid-1950s, he worked as a civil engineer in Pittsburgh for nearly three decades. While in the Keystone State, he and his American wife, Maria, raised three children.

A full life made all the better, he says, because it represents what he calls "the most important thing": his freedom.

''I came from Egypt at a time when freedom was not available," he said in a phone interview from his home in Indiana County. "America represented freedom for me. I fight for freedom every day.''

The 85-year-old's love of freedom - both literally and symbolically - is on display in his latest exhibit, ''Kamal: His Passion - His People,'' on display through March 14 at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Altoona.

The exhibit consists of 59 paintings from the past 40 years. Most of the works feature a hallmark of Kamal's work - brightly colored figures of women, their eyes gazing forward deeply.

''I had a great influence from my mother," he explains. "You wouldn't be here without your mother, it's very basic in life. That's where we came from.''

Often accompanying the female figures in his work are animals, most commonly birds.

"Animals, particularly the birds, are freedom," he says. "They go anywhere, they fly anywhere, they don't need passports. They're free spirits.''

Much like Kamal.

Born in Cairo, Egypt in 1923, he studied engineering from an early age, but always had a love of art. Joining "Art et Liberte" at 16, he helped the group break the traditional barriers that held back Muslim artists. According to his official Web site (www.kamalyoussef.com) biography, Kamal was one of the first Muslim artists to exhibit in the West, representing Egypt at exhibitions in Italy, Brazil and France in the 1950s.

It was during a 1954 "Groupe de L'Art Comtemporain" exhibit in Paris that he decided to leave his home country, where he says he wasn't a free man.

''It was controlled by the British, and then came (Egyptian leader Gen. Gamal Abdel) Nasser," Kamal says. "In the first years, we were very excited about (Nasser's revolution). But he started changing control, he didn't like intellectuals to be around.''

With Egypt a harsher environment, he stayed in Paris, taking in the booming European art scene. The atmosphere helped mold him as an artist, he says.

"The influences on me were Picasso, (Henri) Matisse (and Marc) Chagall," Kamal says. "A great influence on me was Picasso because he was a free man, just like me. He didn't follow any routines, and neither do I.

"Right now I don't find any American painter that paints like me. I like to be unique.''

In 1956, he married his wife, Maria, an American ballerina living in Europe, and moved to the United States. Looking for work as an engineer, he and Maria settled in Pittsburgh, where he got a job. He became a U.S. citizen in 1958.

Since retiring after 27 years as a civil engineer, Kamal has had time to focus more on his art. The SAMA exhibit is the third retrospective of his work to be on display in the last two years.

SAMA Altoona Site Coordinator Barbara Hollander came across Kamal's work by accident - in a catalog that was sent to her office, one of countless random mailings she receives from artists across the country.

''It's rare that you're just going to pick something up and say, 'yes,''' Hollander said. ''But I picked up the catalog and I loved his work. Then as I looked closer, I saw he had a studio in Indiana, Pa. It seemed like it was fate.''

Kamal's exhibit is the first of its kind at SAMA, she said.

''It was something that we had never done - those flattened, Matisse-like images,'' Hollander said.

Kamal's Egyptian roots come through in his work, she added.

''I think that anyone who walks in, if they don't immediately grasp his roots, they know that something is different about him,'' she said. ''I almost think that the way some of the figures are posed could come straight from the pyramids, from the tombs. There's something majestic in their quality.

''So many artists try to make it into a melting pot. It's nice to remember where you come from.''

The foreign feel may be a draw for the exhibit, Hollander said.

''We have a more diverse culture here (Altoona and Hollidaysburg) than we've ever had. I'm hoping that people will really want to see this show.''

And, really, having people see his work is all Kamal wants.

Mirror Staff Writer Keith Frederick is at 946-7466.