Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim (born 1962) is one of the pioneer “five” conceptualists from the United Arab Emirates (alongside Hassan Sharif, Abdullah Al Saadi, Hussain Sharif and Mohammed Kazem), and is internationally celebrated for his brightly colored sculptures and paintings that allude to the landscapes of his native country.
Reproducing more than 90 artworks and installation views by Ibrahim, this retrospective is arranged in two parts. The first provides an in-depth study of Ibrahim’s practice within the history of the UAE’s art culture. The second part provides more detailed studies of Ibrahim’s relationship to artists, poets, writers and various art groups and institutions in the UAE. Together with an in-depth biographical timeline, this book expands and deepens knowledge in the region’s modern art history.
Texts by: Salwa Mikdadi, Maya Allison, Nada Shabout, Venetia Porter, Fumio Nanjo, Adel Khozam, Vivek Vilasini, Munira Al Sayegh, Cristiana de Marchi.
About the Editors
Maya Allison is founding Executive Director of The NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery and Chief Curator at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), a degree-granting research university in the liberal arts tradition. NYUAD shapes its scholarly and creative endeavors through an intercultural and multidisciplinary lens. The university has a deep commitment to support the work of UAE artists, and will launch an MFA program next year.
Cristiana de Marchi is an artist, curator and poet, based in Dubai and Beirut, who has a long record of work with and writing on the UAE art community. De Marchi has been the in-house curator at The Flying House (2008-2012), a collective of UAE pioneering visual artists, gathering around the leading figure Hassan Sharif.
About the Publishers
Founded in 2015 with the mission of promoting the talent of artists from the region, Kaph Books is a publishing house based in Beirut, Lebanon, and specialising in quality art books on Middle-Eastern artists or art practices. Each book is unique, created in collaboration with the artists and contributors with high technical and design quality.
National Pavillion Uae curates untold stories about the UAE’s arts and architecture and provides a high- profile platform for curatorial concepts that address critical international conversations froma distinctive local perspective.
For each annual edition of the Art and Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, one of the world’s most significant and rigorious cultural platforms, research and develop an exhibition and accompanying publication that advance and preserve understanding of the UAE’s cultural landscape.
