Farid El Rayes’s artistic journey was transformed after his diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease post 1993.
In his earlier works, Farid consistently favored bright colors and soft pastels, often working on velvet paper to achieve a luminous, delicate effect. These choices reflect a confident and deliberate creative process, marked by a clear visual language and control over form and tone.
After his diagnosis, a visible transformation took place in both his technique and aesthetic. His later pieces became more fragmented in composition and often darker in palette. The clarity and structure that defined his earlier works gave way to more abstract, less restrained forms, reflecting the cognitive and emotional shifts brought on by the disease.
This collection presents a curated contrast between these two phases. By placing them side by side, it offers insight into how Alzheimer’s gradually altered not only Farid’s memory and daily life, but also his artistic expression.









To further explore changes in art post Alzheimer's diagnosis, we can examine Wilhelm Utermohlen (1933–2007), an American-born artist best known for the haunting series of self-portraits he created after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 1995. A classically trained painter, Utermohlen’s early work displayed careful composition and figurative precision. But as the disease progressed, his style changed dramatically—his portraits became more abstract, fragmented, and emotionally raw. These works offer a rare and intimate visual record of cognitive decline, revealing how Alzheimer's can alter perception, expression, and identity.
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia. It causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior.
Alzheimer's is a progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years. In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stage Alzheimer's, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment. On average, a person with Alzheimer's lives 4 to 8 years after diagnosis but can live as long as 20 years, depending on other factors.
For more information, visit www.alz.org