Christie's, London, United Kingdom
Curated by:
Dr Ridha Moumni
Organised by:
Christie's
Press
The National - Christie's celebrates Saudi artist Ahmed Mater and poetic power of art
AlArabiya - Saudi artist Ahmed Mater presents artwork at Christie’s auction house in London
Arab News - Christie’s to stage retrospective of Saudi artist Ahmed Mater in London
africanews - Christie's showcases Saudi Arabia's most celebrated artist
Ahmed Mater: Chronicles was the artist's first major retrospective in London, bringing together major projects to reveal his path as a chronicler of his homeland's materiality and spirituality.
Christie’s auction house held Mater's first mid-career retrospective across multiple galleries at their headquarters in London. Featuring more than 100 works spanning paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture, video, and installation, the exhibition represented an odyssey into the artist’s life and practice.
Curated by Dr Ridha Moumni, Chairman, Christie’s Middle East and Africa, Chronicles highlighted major milestones of Mater's career, from unseen early abstract paintings, to the celebrated Illumination series, as well as pivotal works from the Desert of Pharan project. The artist’s site-specific commission, for Wadi AlFann, AlUla, took centre stage with sculptures and studies related to the Ashab Al-Lal project, alongside new works such as Magnetism Book, presented to the public for the first time.
"It is an extraordinary honour to present an immersive odyssey into Ahmed Mater’s visionary career, revealed as the first-ever mid-career retrospective dedicated to this iconic artist of the Middle East. Mater’s captivating journey invites us to reexamine urban landscapes, unearth hidden histories, envision potential futures and ponder profound beliefs. His artistic responses to the swift transformations within Saudi Arabia’s complex social and cultural context invite us to discover fascinating narratives of an evolving land."
