Artist Database

Adopting a surrealist touch, Abdelrassoul’s paintings exalt in the feminine and the emotional. They explore the idea of the modern woman, informed by her own experiences of living within a patriarchal society. Many of her motifs address these issues, whilst also making reference to artists and practices that she admires. Reflecting on her experiences as a mother, Abdelrassoul draws attention to the ways women evolve and adapt in oppressive environments. Often using familiar myths and legends, she paints stories through her figures that question the roles women hold in society and cultural history in disruptive and thought-provoking ways. By reconceptualizing perceptions of space, she repurposes notions of form, science and nature into strikingly personal configurations.

Souad Abdelrassoul received her BFA from El Minya University in 1998, a masters degree in Art History in 2005, and a PhD in Modern Art History in 2012. She has exhibited widely since the late 1990s, with solo exhibitions in Cairo, Dakar, and Nairobi. She has been in various group exhibitions internationally. Her work has been shown at art fairs in London, Dubai, Marrakech, and New York. Her work was commissioned for the facade of the Hayward Gallery in London in 2022 and she was featured in Phaidon’s 300 Great Women Painters. In 2023, she was a finalist for the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize in Cape Town.

Abdelrassoul’s work is featured in the collections of the Worcester Art Museum, Chazen Museum and the Fortress House Museum.

Biography courtesy of Circle Art Gallery.

Auction records with Art Auction East Africa.