Mohamad Omer Khalil

Mohamad Omer Khalil is a leading figure in the contemporary Arab art world whose work in painting and print-making has influenced two generations of artists from the region.  Born in Khartoum, Sudan, in 1936, Khalili is highly influenced by the wider Middle Eastern region and European art history, owing to his studies at both the School of Fine and Applied Art, Khartoum, and Italy, where he completed a Diploma in Fresco Painting and Mosaics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence.  His large-scale canvases bring together 15th Century late Gothic and Early Renaissance styles, pioneered by Florentine artist Ucello, with Islamic art motifs, creating intense collage-effect paintings and print works that convey the complexity of fusing together two different art histories.   The dark tones of his earlier works offer a somber reflection on the precarity of our contemporary era – a preoccupation Khalili moves away from in his later, more colorful, canvases. Based in New York since 1967, Khalili has exhibited in numerous international shows.  His works are held in public and private collections including, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Jordanian National Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art.