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Dalloul Art Foundation
MAHA MALLUH MAHA MALLUH

MAHA MALLUH, Saudi Arabia (1959)

Bio

Maha Malluh was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1959. In 1980, the artist finished her art history studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas – Texas, followed by a degree in English...

Maha Malluh was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1959. In 1980, the artist finished her art history studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas – Texas, followed by a degree in English literature in 1993 from King Saud University in Riyadh. In 2000, she pursued her degree in design and photography from California’s De Anza College.

The self-taught artist is known for her mixed-media installations, that in-turn represent the Saudi Arabian and Islamic cultural heritage. From historical regions to modern capitalistic acquisitions, Malluh’s work centers upon the consequences of globalization and the impact that capitalism imposes on her native civilization, making it visible for the observant to realize the clashes in-between tradition and modernity.

Over the past ten years, Maha Malluh has explored and expanded the art of photogram, a photographic technique that was invented by the English inventor William Fox Talbot during the 80’s. The art of Photogram consists of capturing photos without the necessity to have a camera, by exposing photo-sensitive paper directly to a light source and placing objects that interrupt the passage of light and create this technique’s details and appearance.

Maha’s first solo exhibition ‘Capturing Light’ in 2007 at Gallery O in Riyadh. Along with many other international exhibitions and events, including several Edge of Arabia exhibitions, Venice in 2009, TRANSiTION in Istanbul city in 2010; Terminal, Dubai 2011 and We Need to Talk in Jeddah 2012.

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Selected Solo Exhibitions

2018

Road to heaven, Selma Fernani Gallery, Florida, United States of America
Artist Room: Maha Malluh, Jameel Arts Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

2016

Food for Thought ‘Abraj’, Jeddah Sculpture Museum, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

2015

Translated, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria
Open Memory, Selma Fernani Gallery, Paris, France

2014

Distributed Objects, Selma Feriani Gallery, London, United Kingdom

2012

Just Des(s)erts, Selma Feriani Gallery, London, United Kingdom

2007

Capturing Light, Gallery O, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Selected Group Exhibitions

2022

Foreign Affairs, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria

2020

Untitled, Selma Feriani Gallery, Tunis, Tunisia

2019

Art Basel Hong Kong, Selma Feriani Gallery, Hong Kong, China
To a passer-by, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria

2018

Un œil ouvert sur le monde arabe, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
Al Musiqa, Philarmonie de Paris, Paris, France

2017

ICON-IDEA-IDEAL.INSPIRATION, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria
Desert to Delta, Art Museum of the University of Memphis (AMUM), Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
Permanent Exhibition, Louvre, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
The 57thVenice Biennale, Venice, Italy
The Armory Show, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria

2016

Cher(e)s Ami(e)s at the museum, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Champagne Life, Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom

2015

Anonymous, was a woman, Hafez Gallery, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

2014

Hajj, Le Pèleringe à La Mecque, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
The Hand of God, Side by Side Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Collective Exhibition: Contemporary Kingdom, Ayyam Gallery, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

2013

Self-Portraits, Arndt Art Agency, Berlin, Germany
Trade Routes, Hauser & Wirth, London, United Kingdom
ARNDT, Singapore Gillman Barracks & ARNDT Art Stage, Singapore

2012

25 years of Arabic Creativity, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
#COMETOGETHER, Edge of Arabia for contemporary Arab Art and culture, London, United Kingdom
Galerie Krinzinger, Edge of Arabia for contemporary Arab Art and culture, Vienna, Austria
Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam, The British Museum, London, United Kingdom
We Need to Talk, Edge of Arabia for contemporary Arab Art and culture, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The Bravery of Being Out of Range II, The Sultan Gallery, Kuwait City, Kuwait

2011

Journeys, Stories of the World, Orleans House Gallery, London, United Kingdom
TRANSITION, Edge of Arabia for contemporary Arab Art and culture, Sanat Limani Educational Center, Ankara, Turkey

2010

Nabatt, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
Grey Borders/Grey Frontiers – 6thBerlin Biennale, Edge of Arabia for contemporary Arab Art and culture, Berlin, Germany
Grey Borders/Grey Frontiers, Edge of Arabia for contemporary Arab Art and  culture, Art Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

2009

Palazzo Polignac - 53rdVenice Biennale, Edge of Arabia for contemporary Arab Art and culture, Venice, Italy

2008

SOAS Brunei Gallery, Edge of Arabia for contemporary Arab Art and culture, London, United Kingdom

1999

Environmental Week Exhibition, King Saudi University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

1989

The Kingdom Today & Yesterday, Touring Exhibition, Twaiq Palace, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

1986

American Cultural Center, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

1981

Al Wafa Foundation, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

1978

Jeddah Dome – Jeddah Artists Group, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Collections

Ramzi & Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon
Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis, Tunisia
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Louvre Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
MAK Museum of Applied & Contemporary Arts, Vienna, Austria
Greenbox Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Voorlinden Museum, Wassenaar, Netherlands
Imago Mundi Collection, Italy
Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom
British Museum, London, United Kingdom
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, United States of America

MAHA MALLUH Artwork

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