Notes

In his sculpture work The Things I Hope to Bury #9 Ahmed explores similar themes of socially-imposed notions of masculinity, executed by the use of old Mercedes-Benz car parts in reference to the place and role of luxury cars as a stand-in for ideas of power and virility, particularly with the influence of old colonial ideas of masculinity and legacies, emphasized in this work by the intentional use of parts by a foreign car brand.

Born in Kuwait in 1984, Ibrahim Ahmed’s childhood was spent between Bahrain and Egypt. At thirteen, he moved to the USA and lived there until 2014 when he relocated to Cairo, where he currently lives and works. Ahmed is a multidisciplinary artist who works in textile, mixed media, photography, sculpture, and installation to explore issues of colonisation, migration, power and authority, culture, and identity.

Ahmed received his BA in English Literature from Rutgers University in Newark, NJ, USA. He has held numerous solo exhibitions including it will always come back to you at the Institute for Contemporary Art, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA (2022); I never revealed myself to them at Tintera Gallery, Cairo, Egypt (2022); and Does Anybody Leave Heaven? at Primary, Nottingham, UK (2019). His work has also been included in many group exhibitions, including at the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London, UK (2019, 2018); 13th Havana Biennial, Cuba (2019); 13th Biennale de Dakar, Senegal (2018). Ahmed’s work forms part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Old and New Art, Berriedale, Australia; Newark Public Library Special Collection, NJ, USA; Hudson County Community College Foundation Art Collection, NJ, USA; and The Printmaking Center of New Jersey Collection, NJ, USA.

Provenance

Tintera Photographic Art Consultancy, Cairo, 2023.