Mohammad Omar Khalil: Homeland Under My Nails

Installation view #museumshutdown

Mohammad Omar Khalil: Homeland Under My Nails

Hundreds of independent art and museums spaces were forced to close due to the Corona-Crisis. In this series we are celebrating the fantastic artistic events that are right now sitting behind closed doors. Homeland Under My Nails, curated by Abed Al Kadiri, presents prints by Sudanese artist Mohammad Omar Khalil from throughout his career. Take a look at the artist's first major solo exhibition in the UK here.

Mohammad Omar Khalil, Harlem, 1999. Photo: Andy Stagg, courtesy The Mosaic Rooms. 5 x prints 94 x 55.5cm each

20. April 2020

Installation View

Mohammad Omar Khalil (b. 1936) is a painter, master printmaker and mentor. Practicing since the 1960s, he is one of the most significant artists of his generation from Sudan and the Arab world. The exhibition Homeland Under My Nails opens with a series of self-portraits and early works. Khalil, now 83, has long experimented with self-portraits as a means of self-transformation. One of his earliest self-portraits from 1968, at only 2cm by 2cm, challenges the form and medium. Much of the artist’s early work was destroyed in the flood that hit Sudan’s capital in 1988. The few works that survived are displayed here alongside early experimentations from the artist’s time studying at the Academy of Florence, showing the evolution of his style.

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Mohammad Omar Khalil, Homeland Under My Nails, Installation view at The Mosaic Rooms, London. Photo: Andy Stagg

Mohammad Omar Khalil, The Market, 1965. Aquatint, 18 x 23cm

Mohammad Omar Khalil, Sawakin, 1965. Aquatint, 15×19.5cm

Mohammad Omar Khalil, self-portrait, 1975. 45 x 31 cm

Mohammad Omar Khalil, Self -portrait with a fist, 1999.

Mohammad Omar Khalil, Asilah Connection, 1992. Etching / softground / aquatint / spitbite, 24.5 x 33cm

Mohammad Omar Khalil, Homeland Under My Nails, Installation view at The Mosaic Rooms, London. Photo: Andy Stagg

Mohammad Omar Khalil, Harlem, 1999. Photo: Andy Stagg, courtesy The Mosaic Rooms. 5 x prints 94 x 55.5cm each

Mohammad Omar Khalil, Asilah. Photo: Andy Stagg, courtesy The Mosaic Rooms. 49.5 x 35cm

Mohammad Omar Khalil, Petra VIII, 1997. Photo: Nicola Tree, courtesy The Mosaic Rooms.

Mohammad Omar Khalil, Petra VIII, 1997. Photo: Andy Stagg, courtesy The Mosaic Rooms. Soft ground / aquatint / spitbite / drypoint, 101cm x 228cm

CommonGroundV (1985-1995) Mohammad Omar Khalil. Photograph by Andy Stagg, courtesy The Mosaic Rooms. 45.5 x 37.5cm

Common Ground VII (1985-1995) Mohammad Omar Khalil. Photograph by Andy Stagg, courtesy The Mosaic Rooms. 45.5 x 37.5cm

Mohammad Omar Khalil, Homeland Under My Nails, Installation view at The Mosaic Rooms, London. Photo: Andy Stagg

Tombstone Blues (1986) Mohammad Omar Khalil. Photograph by Andy Stagg, courtesy The Mosaic Rooms. Etching / softground / aquatint / spitbite, 91 x 121 cm