About the artist

Makary is a Canadian-Egyptian painter residing and working from Ottawa, Canada. He studied Fine Arts at OCAD University (BFA) and Art History (MA) at the University of Toronto. Alongside developing his drawing and painting skills, Makary has trained for the last eleven years under several disciples of Isaac Fanous and was discipled under Seham Guirguis, assistant professor to Fanous. George has since produced hundreds of commissioned icons and numerous works for churches, chapels, monasteries, publications, exhibitions and individuals who commission him in the US and Canada, Egypt, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He has worked at several institutions, museums and schools as an instructor. He sees education and engagement, especially in the arts and humanities, as an integral component for the life of any community.

projects

  • St Mary St Moses Abbey, Corpus Christi, Texas, 2016- Processional icons

  • St Mary St Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Church, Mississauga- 2018, Steeple Chapel

  • St Catherine Coptic Chapel (Windle House), Toronto, 2018

  • Assistant Iconographer- St Maurice and St Verena Coptic Orthodox Church Toronto (Main Church and Anastasis Chapel) 2017-2020, St Moses and St Katherine Coptic Church Toronto (2018), St John the Baptist Coptic Orthodox Church Miami (2019-2021)

  • Chapel of Hospitality, Toronto, 2020- Wall Paintings

  • Chapel of Intercession, Toronto, 2021- Wall Paintings

  • Chapel of Pope Kyrillos the Sixth, LA (collaborative), 2022

  • St Mark and St Mary of Egypt Coptic Orthodox Church, Ottawa, (ongoing)

  • St George and St Anthony Coptic Orthodox Church, Ottawa, (ongoing), Seasonal icons

  • St Mary and St Demiana Coptic Orthodox Convent, Georgia, 2023, Apse

  • St Mary and St Mina Coptic Orthodox Church, Clearwater (chapel), 2024, Apse

  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Artist in Residence (Mellon Fellow for Africa and Byzantium), 2024

  • St Paul American Coptic Orthodox Church, Chicago (ongoing)

what is an icon?

The word “icon” from the Greek “εἰκών” simply means image. The first chapter of the Bible describes God making man in the image of God. Man becomes the first icon, and God is the first iconographer or icon-maker.

The icon plays an important role in Christian liturgy in life. It declares that God became man, and that we can now see Him and strive to participate in the life of God. The icon has a complex history and a rich theology, and thus continues to be relevant and explored by people and artists around the world today. Icons can be executed in a variety of forms, such as in painting (in murals, egg tempera, and encaustic), mosaics (such as the one pictured, made by the artist), stained-glass, carving, etc. This article discusses how individuals today read Christian art, even if it was created hundreds of years ago.

To explore how Orthodox artists are exploring Christian art and iconography today, check out the Orthodox Arts Journal.

the contemporary coptic school

In the 1950s, the late Dr Isaac Fanous was tasked by Pope Kyrillos the sixth (followed by Pope Shenouda III) to revive, reform, and standardize the iconography of the Coptic church. He was appointed chair of the art department of HICS in 1960, and in 1965 he received a scholarship from the Louvre to study restoration and iconography in Paris, largely under the renowned Leonid Ouspensky and Paul Evdokimov, who he would spend 2 years with. Upon his return to Cairo, Fanous launched a series of iconographic programs in Alexandria and Cairo. Thus the art of the icon, through the use of the canons and visual methods re-established by Fanous, was revived among the Copts. Between 1960 and 2002, Fanous would proceed to paint thousands of icons for over 40 churches in Egypt, England, Canada, the US, and France, training several disciples who continue to work until this day. Today many of his disciples continue to work, and Fanous’ paramount efforts have continued to inspire younger generations of iconographers to strive to in the liturgical tradition he revived while also encountering the burgeoning demand of the diaspora’s thirst for Tradition.

 

A clip from a Leo Rampen’s 1976 CBC documentary Son Rise in which the atelier of Fanous at the Higher Institute of Coptic studies is briefly documented.