Artist Statement: Mahmoud Obaidi

Mahmoud Obaidi (b. 1966, Baghdad) is an Iraqi-Canadian artist whose work has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. After leaving Iraq in 1991, he obtained his Masters of Fine Arts at the University of Guelph in Canada, and completed diplomas in new media and film from Toronto and Los Angeles, respectively. His work has been exhibited extensively, including at Qatar Museums Gallery, Doha; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Saatchi Gallery, London; the National Museum of Bahrain; the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; the National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Texas; and the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec, among others. His work is part of the permanent collection of a number of significant museums, foundations, and private collections.

Selected Group and Solo Exhibitions
2016
Fragments: An Exhibition by Mahmoud Obaidi,
Qatar Museums Gallery, Katara, Doha
Fair Skies, Project Space, Mathaf: Arab Museum
of Modern Art, Doha
Baghdad Manifesto, Saatchi Gallery, London

2015
The Imposter, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice

2014
The Replacement, Meem Gallery, Dubai and Contemporary Art Platform, Kuwait City

2013
Contemporary Arab Art: How Do You Sleep at Night?, Meem Gallery, Dubai and Abu Dhabi Art, Abu Dhabi
Fair Skies – 25 Years of Arab Creativity, National Museum of Bahrain, Manama
The Cubes – Hajj: The Journey Through Art, Museum of Islamic Art, Doha
Dress Code, Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation, Abu Dhabi
Confusionism, Katara Art Centre, Doha

2012
Fair Skies – 25 years of Arab Creativity, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris

2011
200 Gigabytes of My Memory – Art in Iraq Today, Meem Gallery, Dubai, and Beirut Exhibition Centre, Beirut

2010
Fair Skies, Agial Art Gallery and Art Dubai, Dubai
They Welcomed Us with Flowers, Bastakiya Art Fair, Dubai
My Homeland, Art Sawa Gallery, Dubai
Beyond the War: Contemporary Iraqi Artists of the Diaspora, LTHM Gallery, New York

2009
Turtles – Iraqi Artists in Exile, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas
Modernism and Iraq, Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York

2006
Golden Leaves Book, Gallery Jouy, Switzerland, and T Cazacrou Foundation, Frankfurt

2005
Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, University of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton and other locations (travelling exhibition)
Improvisation: Seven Iraqi Artists, Bissan Gallery, Doha, Al-Riwaq Gallery, Manama, and 4 Walls Gallery, Amman
Paris–Baghdad: Iraqi Artists, Musée du Montparnasse, Paris

2003
Iraqi Art Now: Looking Out, Looking In, De Paul Art Museum, Chicago

2002
The Ramona Project, 4 Walls Gallery, Amman

1998
The Dome Project, Zavitz Gallery, Toronto
The Dome Project, Public Art, India

1994
Obaidi, Darat Al Funun, Amman

1990
Cats’ Factory, Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad

Collections
The artist’s work is held in a number of permanent collections including Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; the National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; the Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah; the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec; and the Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad.

http://www.obaidiart.com/