Souad Abdelrassoul (Egyptian, b. 1974)
Lives and works in Cairo
Souad Abdelrassoul's practice spans various media, incorporating drawing, painting, sculpture and graphic design. Working between the abstract and figurative, she intertwines human, animal and vegetal forms, believing we are all intrinsically connected to the earth. Tree-like figures with branching veins and arteries, and giant insect-like creatures, merge on her canvases to remind the viewer of the vital bond between our internal lives and the exterior world we live in.
Adopting a surrealist touch, Abdelrassoul's paintings exalt in the feminine and the emotional. They explore the idea of the modern woman, informed by her own experiences of living within a patriarchal society. Many of her motifs address these issues, whilst also making reference to artists and practices that she admires. Reflecting on her experiences as a mother, Abdelrassoul draws attention to the ways women evolve and adapt in oppressive environments. Often using familiar myths and legends, she paints stories through her figures that question the roles women hold in society and cultural history in disruptive and thought-provoking ways. By reconceptualizing perceptions of space, she repurposes notions of form, science and nature into strikingly personal configurations.
Abdelrassoul graduated with a BFA in 1998 from El Minya University and in 2005 completed her master's degree in History of Art. In 2012 she completed her PhD in Modern Art History. Since 1998 she has exhibited frequently in group and solo exhibitions in Cairo, as well in Nairobi, Beirut and the USA. Her recent exhibitions include: A Never Ending Longing, Cromwell Place, London, 2022; Behind the River, Circle Art Gallery, Nairobi, 2021; East African Encounters, Cromwell Place, London, 2021. She has exhibited at international art fairs in London, Dubai, Marrakech and at The Armory Show in New York. In 2022 her painting The Magician (2021) was acquired by the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the USA. She is also represented in the collection of the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusettes, USA. Abdelrassoul features in 300 Great Women Painterspublished in 2022 by Phaidon Press. In 2022 her work was displayed on a banner outside the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre in London.
Sujay Shah (Kenyan, b. 1991)
Lives and works in Nairobi
Sujay Shah's practice reflects on intermingled cultural ideologies, myths and histories, and questions how we can cope with the colonial pasts that are built into our surroundings. In his recent paintings, Shah deconstructs, satirises and critiques some of the harmful legacies of colonialism through the lens of big game trophy hunting. The presence of certain objects in Kenyan homes, country clubs and Safari lodges, such as skin rugs and mounted animal heads, serve as haunting reminders of this violent history. In his fictitious dioramas and still lives, acts of brutality go side by side with luxury items, such as Victorian objects, silverware and candelabras, challenging notions of what it means to be "civilised". Intertwining horror, humour and surrealism, the exasperated animals are subjected to various states of disrespect, further undermining and trivialising the convoluted nature of these hunts. By referring to aspects of museum display, different moments are merged into a single image, analogous to how the perception and romance of Africa has been fabricated, exoticized and stereotyped: images which still perpetuate and haunt us today.
Shah graduated with a BFA in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2013. After college he lived in New York, working as a studio assistant for artists Paul Bloodgood and Anne Chu. Shah has exhibited in the US - in Savannah, Georgia and New York - and in France. His work is featured in the permanent collection of the Savannah College of Art and Design. In Kenya, his group exhibitions include Fictions, Circle Art Gallery, 2022; Various Small Fires, Circle Art Gallery, 2021; I Will See What I Want To See, Circle Art Gallery, 2019; If Not Now, the Cave Bureau, 2018. In 2022 he was awarded a Venice travel fellowship by Wangechi Mutu Studio and did a residency at 32 Degrees East, Uganda in 2023. He had his first solo exhibition Forgive us for our Skins at Circle Art Gallery's new space in 2023.
