Ibrahim Ahmed

you can’t recognise what you don’t know

quickly but carefully cross to the other side

some parts seem forgotten

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 materials are informed by research into the histories of peoples and objects. His works in photography, mixed media, sculpture and installation engage with subjects related to colonization, structures of power, cultural interactions and fluid identity, generating discussions around the idea of self and notions of authenticity within the parameters of the nation state.

i never revealed myself to them (2016-2021) is an extensive body of work with numerous iterations through which Ahmed examines masculinity(ies), its traditions and representations.

you can’t recognise what you don't know (2020), combines posed pictures of the artist taken in photography studios together with images of a documented performance. Using techniques involving editing, cutting and layering, he fragments and reconstructs his images of the male body into new and peculiar re-enactments, gesturing the performative nature of masculinity and the permeating effects of social constructionism. In quickly but carefully cross to the other side and some parts seem forgotten, found images from Ahmed’s father’s family albums are weaved together with self-portraits creating patchwork like collages of lost or forgotten memories.For Ahmed, this ongoing body of work acts somewhat as a visual diary, with each iteration evolving as he delves deeper into his personal history and the relationship to his own manhood.

Ahmed has had solo exhibitions at the Institute for Contemporary Art in Richmond, VA (2021); TINTERA, Cairo (2021), 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 Sonja Hanes Stone Center for Black Culture and History, Brown Gallery and Museum, North Carolina; TINTERA, Cairo; Jaou Tunis,Tunisia; the Sharjah Art Museum; Dakar Biennial; Havana Biennial and Biennale Internationale de Casablanca. In 2020 Ahmed was shortlisted for the Emerging Photographer of the Year Award at Photo London in partnership with Nikon Northern Europe and in 2023 Ahmed was exhibited at Les Rencontres d’Arles as a shortlisted artist for the Louis Roederer Discovery Award.

His work is held in many private collections and was recently acquired by the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Australia, the Kamal Lazaar Foundation, Tunis and the Kadist Collection, France. Ahmed is currently completing an MFAat the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

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