THE MAGIC OF FORGOTTEN PLACES: A SOLO EXHIBITION BY MISKA MOHMMED
“When you look at my paintings, even without any living beings present, you feel the energy of these places. Sometimes I find myself in a crowded city, and sometimes on a quiet beach looking at a calm ocean. I am testing the bustle of the city against the tranquility of nature.” – Miska Mohmmed
September 15, 2021 - October 8, 2021
Image courtesy of Circle Art Agency
Miska Mohmmed creates lush, effervescent paintings inspired by the meeting of the natural and the man-made, as observed in her home city, Khartoum. Working primarily in acrylics and oils, her works feature undulating gestures let loose across the picture plane, with subtle colour gradations suggesting an interplay between land, water, air, flora and fauna. Mohmmed trained as a painter and for a long time, practiced plein air painting, an experience which has informed her exploration of nature and the contrast between the quietude of open, unpopulated areas with the bustle and energy of crowded urban spaces. Her ingenious use of colour and line, combined with semi-abstract forms manifests the physical terrains that inform the work as well as their energy and atmosphere. Her works are equally soothing and invigorating, pulsing with life and exuding a psychic pull on the viewer.
Miska Mohmmed received a BFA in painting from the College of Fine and Applied Arts, Sudan University in 2016. She has shown her work in various venues in Sudan including the Rashid Diab Arts Centre and the French Cultural Centre. Outside Sudan, Mohmmed has exhibited in Nairobi, Cairo and Lagos and participated in international symposia in Egypt and Tunisia. In 2017, she was one of the artists in the Khartoum Contemporary group exhibition at Circle Art Gallery, and her work has since come up for auction twice in the annual Art Auction East Africa.
The Magic of Forgotten Places is her first solo exhibition and features a selection of new works all created in 2021. In addition to this exhibition, Mohammed is also showing in our upcoming group exhibition at Cromwell Place in London, 5-17 October; the Investec Cape Town Art Fair digital event,17-19 September, and Art X Lagos online 4-21 November this year.
