Ibrahim Ahmed

Artist

Born in Kuwait (1984), Ibrahim Ahmed spent his childhood between Bahrain and Egypt before moving to the US at the age of thirteen. In 2014, he relocated to Cairo, where he currently lives and works in the informal neighbourhood of Ard El Lewa. Ahmed’s manipulations of material, especially textile, are informed by research into the histories and movements of peoples and objects. His works in mixed media, sculpture, and installation engage with subjects related to colonization, structures of power, cultural interactions, and fluid identity, generating discussion around ideas of the self and notions of authenticity within the parameters of the nation-state.

Ahmed has shown his work in solo exhibitions at Primary, Nottingham (2019); Sara Zanin Gallery, Rome (2018); Gallery Nosco, Marseille (2018); Volta Art Fair, New York (2016); Townhouse Gallery, Cairo (2016); artellewa art space, Giza (2014) and Solo(s) Project House, Newark (2010). His work has also been included in numerous group exhibitions, including at the Sharjah Art Museum, 13th edition of the Biennial of Dakar - Dak'art, 13th Havana Biennial, 4th International Biennial of Casablanca, 12th edition of the Bamako Encounters - African Biennale of Photography.

Born: Kuwait City, Kuwait 1984. Lived in Bahrain, United States, and currently in Egypt.

EDUCATION
BA in English Literature, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021
•it will always come back to you, Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU, Richmond, Virginia
•I never revealed myself to them, Tintera Gallery, Cairo, Egypt

2019
•Does Anybody Leave Heaven?, Primary, Nottingham, England

2018
•Burn What Needs to Be Burned, Sara Zanin Gallery, Rome, Italy
•Along Those Lines, Gallery Nosco, Marseille , France

2016
•Something I Can Feel, Gallery Nosco / Volta Art Fair, NYC, NY
•Pressing Fallacies, Townhouse West, Cairo, Egypt

2014
•The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Artellewa Art Space, Ard El Lewa, Giza, Egypt

2010
•In the Shade of Light, Solo(s) Project House, Newark, NJ

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021
• Photo London Fair, Tintera Gallery, London, UK

2020
• Home Museum, LagosPhoto Festival, The Photographic Collective, Lagos, Nigeria
• Eternal Light, Art D'Egypte, Tintera Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
• Photo London Fair, Tintera Gallery, London, UK
• Sharing Our Dreaming Room, Sara Zanin Gallery, Rome, Italy

2019
• Traces, Museo Civico Medievale di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
•Bamako Encounters 12th Edition - African Biennale of Photography, Bamako, Mali
•1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Gallery Nosco, London, UK
•The Road Map to Renaissance, Darb 1718, Cairo, Egypt
•After the Canal, there was only ‘our’ World , Mestna Galerija, The Museum & Galleries of the City of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
•Reimagined Narratives, Arte D’EGypte, Cairo, Egypt
•The Construction of the possible, 13th Havana Biennial, Havana Cuba

2018
•Stories from the Water's Edge, 4th International Biennial of Casablanca, Casablanca, Morocco
•The Red Hour, Biennale de Dakar 13th Edition, Dakar, Senegal
•Artissima, Piero Atchugarry Gallery, Torino, Italy
•1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Gallery Nosco, London, UK
•ArtVerona, Sara Zanin Gallery, Verona, Italy
•ZONAMACO, Gallery Nosco, Mexico City, Mexico

2017
•Universal Belonging, Prizm Art Fair, Miami, FL
•MEDITERRANEAN FOCUS, Swab Art Fair, Barcelona, Spain

2016
•Architecture, Islamic Art Festival, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE
•ICONIC CITY: CAIRO NOW! CITY INCOMPLETE, Dubai Design District, Dubai, UAE
•Jameco Exchange, No Longer Empty, Queens, NY

2015
• Light, Islamic Art Festival, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE
•ArtRio Art Fair, Gallery Nosco, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
•On the Inner and Outer Self, Openings Collective, NYC, NY
•Beyond the Lines, artellewa, Zamalek, Egypt

2014
•Center for Contemporary Art, Juror Evonne Davis, Bedminster, NJ
•Process, Anonymous Gallery, New York, NY
Muscle Memory, Freeman Space, Brooklyn, NY

2013
•Windows@Walsh, Walsh Gallery at Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ
•Building Bridges, Fundación Rozenblum, Buenos Aires, Argentina
•Newark Art & Artists: Prints, Photographs & Works on Paper, Newark Public Library, Newark NJ
•Four by Four, Aferro Gallery, Newark, NJ
•EMO Show, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY

2012
•Center for Contemporary Art, Juror Edwin Ramoran, Bedminster, NJ
•Four by Four, Printmaking Center of NJ, Branchburg, NJ
•ArtReach XIX, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ
•Solo(s) Project House at Fountain Art Fair, Armory Show, New York, NY

2011
•ArtReachXX, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ
•The Newark School, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ
•One-Two Punch, Ramapo College, Mahwah, NJ

2010
•South Asian Women’s Creative Collective, 4th Annual Art Auction Benefit New York, NY
•Window Spaces, Atlantic Assets Pop Up Space, Brooklyn, NY
•Vessel, Rupert Ravens Contemporary, Newark, NJ
•ArtReach XVII, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ
•The Art of Politics, Columbia University, New York, NY

RELATED EXPERIENCE
2012
•Senior Muralist, “It’s Just a Little Rain (Mural #4)”, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ

2011
•Exhibition Committee, Aferro Gallery, Newark, NJ

LECTURES & SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
2013
•Guest Speaker, Hudson County Community College Foundation (In conjunction with the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities), Jersey City,

2011
•Artist Conversation: One-Two Punch, Ramapo College, Mahwah, NJ
•Guest Speaker, Rutgers Future Scholars, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ

2010
•Solo(s) Speaks: “In the Shade of Light,” Solo(s) Project House, Newark, NJ

2009
•Guest Speaker, Intro to Modern Art, Howard University, Washington D.C.

RESIDENCIES
2014
•Artist in Residence, Artellewa Art Space, Ard El Lewa, Giza, Egypt

2012
•Artist in Residence, Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ
•Collaborative Editions Project Residency, Printmaking Center of NJ, Branchburg, NJ

AWARDS & HONORS
2020
•Shortlisted for the Emerging Photographer of the Year Award 2020, in partnership with Nikon Northern Europe, Photo London Fair, London, UK

2012
•2nd Prize, Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ

2011
•Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant Nominee

COLLECTIONS
• Museum of Old and New Art, Berriedale, Australia
•Newark Public Library Special Collection, NJ, USA
•Hudson County Community College Foundation Art Collection, NJ, USA
•The Printmaking Center of New Jersey Collection, NJ, USA

PRESS
https://brooklynrail.org/2021/09/artseen/Ibrahim-Ahmed-It-Will-Always-Come-Back-to-You

https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/13488/gently-erotic-photo-collages-that-explore-migration-and-masculinity

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1904066/lifestyle

https://contemporaryand.com/exhibition/ibrahim-ahmed-it-will-always-come-back-to-you/

Camera Austria International (Publication): What’s at Stake / What’s Missing?

https://www.harpersbazaararabia.com/art/artists/egyptian-artist-ibrahim-ahmed-speaks-out-about-his-censored-work-at-the-havana-biennial

https://www.contemporaryand.com/magazines/the-artists-censored-speak-out/

https://www.contemporaryand.com/exhibition/ibrahim-ahmed-burn-what-needs-to-be-burned/

https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2018/09/egyptian-artist-explores-themes-of-identity-and-belonging/

http://www.brooklynrail.org/2016/02/artseen/letter-from-cairo-ibrahim-ahmed-pressing-fallacies

https://flaviamalusardi.wordpress.com/2015/09/13/hybrid-intersections-conversation-with-ibrahim-ahmed-iii/

http://www.okayafrica.com/culture-2/ibrahim-ahmed-cairo-art-story/