The Glow of the city

The Glow of the city

2025

Mohamed Abla

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Oil, Acrylic, Painter

+ About Artist

Oil on canvas - 100 x 80 cm - 2023

Mohamed Abla (b. 1953, Mansoura – Egypt) is considered one of the leading figures in contemporary Egyptian art. His artistic journey is marked by a diverse range of techniques and a deep engagement with social and political themes. Abla has moved between Cairo, Fayoum, and Germany throughout his life, drawing inspiration from everyday life, Egyptian folklore, and abstracted landscapes. His unique visual language blends abstraction, collage, and lithography, often exploring themes of human rights, freedom, and identity

Abla has received numerous accolades

He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria in 1973 before traveling to Europe, where he spent nearly seven years studying art and visiting major museums across France, Germany, Spain, and Belgium. In 1981, he studied graphics and sculpture in Zurich. His first solo exhibition took place at Hohmann Gallery in Hamburg in 1979, followed by shows in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Italy. Throughout his prolific career, Abla has received numerous accolades, including the Grand Prize at the Alexandria Biennale (1997) and First Prize at the Kuwait Biennale (1994). He has also participated in major international events such as the Havana Biennale, and his works have been exhibited in institutions like the Kunst Museum in Germany. In 2007, he founded the Fayoum Art Center in Egypt, and in 2009, he established the first caricature museum in the Middle East — a reflection of his enduring commitment to art and community.

Oil on canvas - 40 x 30 cm - 2023

Oil on canvas - 70 x 50 cm - 2023

Oil on canvas - 140 x 210 cm - 2022

Oil on canvas - 45 x 30 cm - 2022

Capturing the fleeting rhythms of daily life in Cairo

Mohamed Abla’s urban scenes capture the vibrant pulse of Cairo, Egypt, with expressive energy and bold color. His dynamic brushwork and fluid compositions blur the lines between abstraction and reality, reflecting the rhythm and movement of daily life in one of the world’s most alive and complex cities. From the glare of headlights on rainy streets to the blur of motion in traffic, Abla transforms familiar Cairo moments into emotionally resonant visual narratives.

Rather than simply documenting Cairo, Abla brings it to life with a painterly language that speaks to its chaos, beauty, and humanity. The layered textures and luminous palette evoke the city's ever-shifting atmosphere—its sounds, speed, and spirit. These works are not just about place, but about presence, inviting viewers into a Cairo that is felt as much as seen—a timeless portrait of movement, memory, and modern Egyptian life.

@Folk art space

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In the shelter of green

2025

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Motion Art Gallery - Cairo

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Gardening holds a special place in my heart. The spaces I inhabit are never without houseplants. I’m constantly amazed by how these plants, though confined to pots in enclosed interiors, would grow to immense sizes in their native environments—sometimes large enough to dwarf homes. This contrast makes me reflect on how space influences our own growth and the decisions we make. Indoor gardening, for me, has become a way of inviting nature into our homes, an ongoing dialogue between the organic and the inanimate, unfolding within the limitations of interior space.

Gardening holds a special place in my heart. The spaces I inhabit are never without houseplants. I’m constantly amazed by how these plants, though confined to pots in enclosed interiors, would grow to immense sizes in their native environments—sometimes large enough to dwarf homes. This contrast makes me reflect on how space influences our own growth and the decisions we make. Indoor gardening, for me, has become a way of inviting nature into our homes, an ongoing dialogue between the organic and the inanimate, unfolding within the limitations of interior space.

Built elsewhere

2025

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Folk Art Space

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Built Elsewhere presents a series of bronze sculptures and silkscreen prints that examine the conceptual tensions surrounding home, memory and identity within the context of diasporic presence. Rather than reconstructing a singular place or origin, Rim Albahrani works through abstraction to propose spatial forms shaped by memory, movement, and shifting contexts. These are not representations of architecture, but spatial propositions shaped by psychological orientation and lived experience. The sculptures are grounded yet slightly off center, holding emotion through quiet imbalance. In parallel, the prints function as impressions, visual traces of structures recalled, imagined or partially forgotten. This work aligns with broader conversations about how space and belonging are shaped through experience, relation and the refusal of fixed narratives. Rim Albahrani constructs meaning through repetition, open form, and the tension between structure and memory. While certain theoretical ideas may echo in the background, they are not central. It remains committed to a visual language that holds ambiguity, invites reflection and resists the need for definition. Built Elsewhere approaches form as a mode of reflection. It holds presence, relation, and quiet transformation. Rather than seeking certainty, the work remains open and suggests that belonging is shaped through gestures that lean, shift, and stay attentive to change. These forms trace the ongoing construction of self, memory and place.

Built Elsewhere presents a series of bronze sculptures and silkscreen prints that examine the conceptual tensions surrounding home, memory and identity within the context of diasporic presence. Rather than reconstructing a singular place or origin, Rim Albahrani works through abstraction to propose spatial forms shaped by memory, movement, and shifting contexts. These are not representations of architecture, but spatial propositions shaped by psychological orientation and lived experience. The sculptures are grounded yet slightly off center, holding emotion through quiet imbalance. In parallel, the prints function as impressions, visual traces of structures recalled, imagined or partially forgotten. This work aligns with broader conversations about how space and belonging are shaped through experience, relation and the refusal of fixed narratives. Rim Albahrani constructs meaning through repetition, open form, and the tension between structure and memory. While certain theoretical ideas may echo in the background, they are not central. It remains committed to a visual language that holds ambiguity, invites reflection and resists the need for definition. Built Elsewhere approaches form as a mode of reflection. It holds presence, relation, and quiet transformation. Rather than seeking certainty, the work remains open and suggests that belonging is shaped through gestures that lean, shift, and stay attentive to change. These forms trace the ongoing construction of self, memory and place.