Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim b. 1962
Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim is part of the UAE's first generation of contemporary artists from the late 1980s, an avant-garde scene that included Hassan Sharif, Abdullah Al Saadi, Hussein Sharif, and Mohammed Kazem. Ibrahim’s work has been inspired by a lifelong relationship with the environment of Khorfakkan, his place of birth, with the Gulf of Oman on one side and the Hajar Mountains on the other. This deep connection to his local environment repeats itself throughout his studio practice, whether through his installations, drawings or objects, and the materials he has worked with for over three decades. His hand made objects are shaped like primitive tools, bones or parts of trees and appear to have been unearthed from some ancient den, rather than handcrafted. His works on paper reveal his own form of language - inscriptions, lines and abstract forms that are reminiscent of ancient cave drawings - marking time and memory through meditative repetition.
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Dusk Till Dawn, Installation view, Cromwell Place, London, 2021
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Al Ain Oasis, 2023
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3 Pink Forks in Vase, 2020
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Untitled, 2020
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Untitled, 2019
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Windows At the Morning 3, 2022
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3 Yellow Flowers, 2020
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Khorfakkan, 2005
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Animal 1, 2014
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Animal 2, 2014
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Animal 3, 2014
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Between Sunrise and Sunset, 2022
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Black form on white , 2016
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Blue Boulevard, 2020
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Chair, 2012
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Fruit basket , 2010
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Fruit basket , 2010
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Fruits , 2012
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Green Apple Tree, 2013 tbc
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Green Boulevard, 2020
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Lady Going to a Party in a Hurry, 2020
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Lemon Tree, 2013
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Mask, 2015
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Mineral Water, 2013
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Mixed Lines, 2017
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Mixed Lines , 2017
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One pink flower in a vase, 2018
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Orange Fork, 2020
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Orange Fork on the Table, 2020
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Pile of Bricks, 2002
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Pink Garden, 2020
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Pinky Boulevard, 2020
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Robot, 2020
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Robot 5, 2018
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Salalah Landscape , 2016
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Sapling, 2018
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Sapling, 2018
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Sitting Man, 2013
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Sitting Man , 2013
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Sitting Man, 2012
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Spike, 2018
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Standing Body 2, 2020
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Standing Body 3, 2020
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Standing Body 5, 2020
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The Single Key, 2020
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Tolerance , 2018
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Tomato Tree, 2013 TBC
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Tower 2, 2017
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Twins, 2020
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Unboxing, 2016
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Unboxing, 2016
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Unboxing, 2016
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Unboxing, 2016
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Untitled , 2017
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Untitled, 2017
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Untitled, 2015
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Untitled, 2015
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Untitled, 2016
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Untitled , 2015
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Untitled, 2016
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Untitled, 2018
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Untitled , 2016
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Untitled , 2016
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Untitled, 2015
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Untitled , 2017
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Untitled , 2015
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Untitled , 2017
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Untitled , 2017
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Untitled , 2017
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Untitled, 2015
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Untitled, 2019
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Untitled, 2019
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Untitled, 2019
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Untitled, 2019
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Untitled, 2020
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Untitled, 2020
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Untitled, 2020
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Untitled, 2020
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Untitled, 2020
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Untitled, 2020
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Untitled, 2020
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Untitled, 2020
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Untitled, 2020
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Untitled, 2019
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Untitled, 2020
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Untitled, 2020
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Untitled, 2020
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Window bar 3, 2017
Ibrahim came of age as an artist in the UAE in an era in which the visual arts were not yet valued culturally or taught in university degree programs. In 1986, when he met the late artist Hassan Sharif (a founding member of the influential Emirates Fine Art Society), Ibrahim was pulled out of a secluded practice and carved out unshakable friendships and collaborations that have formed the foundation for the creative community that defines the UAE today.
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim represented the UAE at the 2022 Venice Biennale with a large-scale installation titled Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim: Between Sunrise and Sunset. The exhibition presented a new body of work created for the National Pavilion UAE, curated by Maya Allison, Executive Director of The New York University Abu Dhabi Art Gallery.
In March 2018, Elements, a survey of works spanning three decades of his practice, was presented at the Sharjah Art Foundation, curated by Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi.
Ibrahim's recent solo exhibitions include Elevation at Abu Dhabi Art with Lawrie Shabibi (2023); The Armory Show with Lawrie Shabibi, New York (2022); Embryonic Coat, (2022), Memory Drum (2020) and The Space between the Eyelid and the Eyeball (2019) at Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, as well as a series of solo shows at Cuadro Gallery, Dubai (2018, 2016, 2015, 2013).
Ibrahim’s public works include: Al Ain Oasis, commissioned by Abu Dhabi Art for Artist Commissions in Cultural Sites, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2023); Falling Stones Garden, commissioned by the Royal Commission for Al Ula and Desert X, Al Ula, Saudi Arabia (2020); Grocery, commissioned by Ghadan 21, Government of Abu Dhabi as part of the For Abu Dhabi initiative, Madinat Zayed Market, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2019); Untitled, commissioned by Aldar Properties PJSC in partnership with Abu Dhabi Art Reem Central Park, Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2019); Kids Garden (2019), commissioned by Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2019); and Bait Al Hurma, commissioned by the Sharjah Art Foundation as part of the exhibition Elements, Al Mureijah Square, Sharjah (2018).
Ibrahim's select group exhibitions include Unwritten, Unspoken & Told exhibition, Dubai Calligraphy Biennale, Foundry Downtown, Dubai (2023); In the Heart of Another Country: The Diasporic Imagination Rises, curated by Dr Kholeif, Sharjah, Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE (2023); Portrait Of A Nation II: Beyond Narratives, Produced by Abu Dhabi Festival organised by ADMAF, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi (2022); But We Cannot See Them: Tracing a UAE Art Community, 1988-2008 at The NYUAD Art Gallery (2017); The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Yay Gallery, Baku (2015); the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi (2016); the 53rd Venice Biennale, Venice (2009); the Sharjah Biennial (1993, 2003 and 2007); and the Dhaka Biennial (2002 and 1993).
Select institutional exhibitions include the Kunstmuseum, Bonn (2005); the Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah (2005 & 1996); the Ludwig Forum for International Art, Aachen (2002); Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris (1998); Sittard Art Centre, the Netherlands (1995) and the Exhibition for the Emirates Fine Art Society in the Soviet Union, Moscow (1990).
He received the first prize for sculpture at the Sharjah Biennial in 1999 and 2001 and has been a member of the Emirates Fine Arts Society since 1986, founding Art Atelier at the Khor Fakkan Art Centre in 1997. He has participated in artist residencies at Trans Indian Ocean Artist Exchange, Kochi Murzi Biennale, India (2016); A.i.R Dubai (2015); Le Consortium, Dijon, France (2009) and Kunstcentrum Sittard, the Netherlands (1994-1996, 1998-2000).
His works have been acquired by significant international collections including Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah; Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah; Art Jameel Collection, Dubai; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Kunstcentrum Sittard, Sittard; The British Museum, London; and Le Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.
Ibrahim works and lives in Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates.
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Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim at the Bihar Museum
G20: Together We Art 7 Aug - 7 Oct 2023 MuseumsTogether we art is based on the theme of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, a concept from the Maha Upanishad. Art reflects society, the concerns of community, from the political, to the cultural,...Read more -
Christie's London: Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World
Group Exhibition 20 Jul - 23 Aug 2023 MuseumsChristie’s presents Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World, bringing together works of art across mediums in an exhibition which collectively celebrates the creativity, diversity and history of Arab...Read more -
Mona Saudi & Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim at Sharjah Art Foundation
In the Heart of Another Country: The Diasporic Imagination Rises 15 Jul - 24 Sep 2023 MuseumsWe are pleased to announce that works by Mona Saudi and Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim are currently part of 'In the Heart of Another Country: The Diasporic Imagination Rises', curated by...Read more -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim: Embryonic Coat
Solo Exhibtion 18 May - 16 Jul 2022 GalleryEmbryonic Coat is the third solo exhibition by Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim (b. 1962, UAE) to be shown at the gallery. Here Ibrahim explores the conception or manifestation of the known,...Read more -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim: Between Sunrise and Sunset
Biennale di Venezia 2022 23 Apr - 27 Nov 2022 BiennialsThe National Pavilion UAE’s exhibition at the Biennale Arte 2022 (Venice Biennale) is titled Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim: Between Sunrise and Sunset.The exhibition presents a new body of work created for...Read more -
Under Construction Part II
Group Exhibition 5 Jul - 22 Sep 2021 GalleryUnder Construction Part II expands on the notion of the uncompleted project, the work in progress, presenting a series of evolving, paradoxical, overlapping paradigms, where histories are re-evaluated, cultural artefacts...Read more -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim: Dusk Till Dawn
Solo Exhibition 2 - 13 Jun 2021 GalleryDusk Till Dawn is Emirati artist's Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim first solo exhibition in London, taking place at Cromwell Place, as part of a wider collaboration between Abu Dhabi Art, Cromwell...Read more -
Under Construction
Group Exhibition 31 May - 26 Jun 2021 GalleryUnder Construction, a group exhibition held in two parts, presents a series of incomplete, evolving, overlapping, paradoxical concepts - building structures, formulating symbols, manufacturing appearance, fabricating histories and reconstituting anatomies....Read more -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim: Memory Drum
Solo Exhibition 19 Sep - 12 Nov 2020 GalleryMemory Drum is the second solo exhibition of Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim (b.1962) at the gallery, comprising a series of new paintings and sculptures, produced during his time in isolation in...Read more -
Upsurge: Waves, Colour and Illusion
Group Exhibition 18 Mar - 1 Sep 2020 GalleryBringing together the diverse range of practices of a multi-generational group of artists - Mohamed Melehi (b.1936, Morocco), Mona Saudi (b.1945, Jordan), Hamra Abbas (b.1976, Kuwait), Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim (b....Read more -
Materialize
Maliheh Afnan, Farhad Ahrarnia, Shaikha Al Mazrou, Asad Faulwell, Fathi Hassan, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Mona Saudi, Driss Ouadahi, Shahpour Pouyan 18 Mar - 7 Apr 2019 GalleryOpening 18 March in Warehouse 13 -a large space just across from its gallery within Alserkal Avenue- Lawrie Shabibi presents a major group exhibition to coincide with the 12th edition...Read more -
The Space Between the Eyelid and the Eyeball
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim 5 Mar - 9 May 2019 GalleryFor his solo exhibition and debut at the gallery, Khorfakkan-based artist, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim presents The Space Between the Eyelid and the Eyeball, comprising three bodies of work that span...Read more -
Elements
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim at Sharjah Art Foundation 16 Mar - 16 Jun 2018 MuseumsSharjah Art Foundation presents a survey of works by Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim in Gallery 3 at Al Mureijah Square. Curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, the exhibition will feature...Read more -
Vernacular Automatisms
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim at Aicon Art, New YorkMohamed Ahmed Ibrahim's first virtual exhibition - Vernacular Automatisms - is now live. Presented by New York-based Aicon Art Gallery, the two-artist show is curated by Murtaza Vali and features...Read more
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BBC StoryWorks: The UAE Leaders Designing Tomorrow
BBC StoryWorks -
The National: Solomon R Guggenheim Museum acquires five works by Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim
Razmig Bedirian, The National Culture, June 28, 2024 -
Arab News Japan: exhibition celebrating the UAE’s natural landscapes in Tokyo
Sophie Mayuko Arni, Arab News Japan, December 11, 2023 -
The National: Sharjah Art Foundation exhibition walks tightrope of diaspora's struggles and shared past
Afshan Ahmed, The National , July 21, 2023 -
Christie's: How the Casablanca Art School helped to transform post-independence Morocco
Alastair Smart, Christie's -
Contemporary Identities: Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim and Nathaniel Rackowe
Sophie Kazan, Contemporary Identities -
The Sun Never Sets: Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim’s Landscapes of Light
Evan Moffitt, Frieze.com, June 1, 2019 -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim in Gulf News: The Pioneers of Contemporary Art in the UAE
Jyoti Kalsi, Gulf News, April 24, 2019 -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim - Art Forum Critics' Picks
Rahel Aima, Art Forum, April 17, 2019 -
An Artist Meditation: Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim
Anna Seaman , Folio, March 15, 2019 -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim in Selections
Selections, December 1, 2018 -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim in Harper's Bazaar Art Arabia
Anna Seaman, Harper's Bazaar Art Arabia, June 18, 2018
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Embryonic Coat by Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim | Exhibition Walkthrough
18 MAY–16 JULY 2022 June 3, 2022Exhibition preview of Embryonic Coat - Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim's third solo exhibition at Lawrie Shabibi - exploring the conception or manifestation of the known, experienced,...Read more -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim
Dusk Till Dawn Exhibition at Cromwell Place, London June 13, 2021 -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim
Memory Drum Exhibition at Lawrie Shabibi September 30, 2020 -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim in Conversation with Maya Allison
September 28, 2020Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim speaks with Maya Allison (Executive Director of The NYUAD Art Gallery and Chief Curator of NYUAD) about his process, the...Read more -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim
But We Cannot See Them: Tracing a UAE Art Community, 1988-2008 September 20, 2020This interview was conducted as part of the extensive research leading to the exhibition 'But We Cannot See Them: Tracing a UAE Art Community, 1988-2008',...Read more -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim
Art Dubai Portraits March 1, 2020Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim talks about his practice and what it means to be an artist in the UAE.Read more -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim
For Abu Dhabi Comission February 9, 2020This short film features a largescale public mural by Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim. Entitled Grocerry (2019), the work was realized at Madinat Zayed Market...Read more -
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim
Meet the Artist April 3, 2019Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim talks about the different mediums he works in and the time he spent working on his colourful “Sitting Man” series....Read more