Shadi Al-Atallah - CV + Bio

Shadi Al-Atallah creates new imaginary self-portraits which position the artist in hellish domestic settings. Dark, dynamic and distorted figures seek to convey the absurdity of conflicting emotional states. The paintings consist of brush strokes quickly made, a technique that the artist describes as necessary to convey their thoughts and attitudes. They use painting to escape the constraints of language and to invent genderless figures that embody an ambiguity that language rarely grants. In so doing, they convey Al-Atallah’s ideas on gender and sexuality while remaining obscure enough so that viewers can connect with the works on their own terms.

Born 1994, Saudi Arabia
Lives and works in London

Education
2021
MFA, Royal College of Art, London

2018
BFA, University of the Arts, London

Solo Exhibitions
2023
Rapture, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Fistfight, Guts Gallery, London

2022
Waters That Never Quench, Steve Turner, Los Angeles

2021
I LOST THE TITLE ON THE PLANE, Guts Gallery, London

2019
Fuck I’m Stuck, J Hammond Projects, London

2018
Roadblocks, Cob Gallery, London

Group Exhibitions
2023
Untitled, Miami Beach (with Steve Turner)
Dreaming of Home, The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, New York
Unruly Bodies, Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London
Saints and Sinners, Guts Gallery, London

2022
Somatic Markings, Kasmin Gallery, New York
Figuring, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Them, Juxtapoz Magazine x Perrotin, Hong Kong
NEXT, Christie’s, London
And this Skin of Mine, To Live Again a Second Time, Guts Gallery, London
What Now, PM/AM, London

2021
Victoria Miro x OUT Collective, Vortic XR, Virtual
Reality Check, Guts Gallery, London
Guts Gallery Introducting, Sadie Coles HQ, London

2020
Begin Again, Guts Gallery, London
Paintings on, and, with paper, Cob Gallery, London
When Shit Hits the Fan, Guts Gallery, London
NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT, Public Gallery, London
Alter Ego, Unit London, London

2019
The Head The Hand, Blank Projects, Cape Town, South Africa

2018
BBZ BLK BK, Copeland Gallery, London

Bibliography
2022
Frankel, Eddy. “Blob,” Trolley Books

2021
Lordi, Emily. “The Black Recovery Stories Speaking to Individual and Collective Wellness,” The New York Times, September

2020
Wortham, Jenna and Drew, Kimberly. “Black Futures,” Oneworld Publications