Ahmed Morsi

b. 1930

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, 1930; Lives and works in New York, New York

I am not building a world—for me, that world, my world, exists and has existed since time immemorial. It is a world where everything is seen, perceived and understood differently. Your world is bound by conditioning, preconceived habits. In mine, the senses are free. — Ahmed Morsi

Artwork

Exhibitions

11.12–12.18.2021
Detail From a Mural
Salon 94 89th Street

Ahmed Morsi

10.28–11.30.2020
Art Basel OVR:20c
Art Basel

Ahmed Morsi

09.28–10.26.2016
When Art Becomes Liberty: The Egyptian Surrealists (1938-1965)
Palace of Arts in Cairo

Ahmed Morsi

01.03–06.03.2017
A Dialogic Imagination
Sharjah Art Foundation

Ahmed Morsi

Biography

Portrait of Ahmed Morsi in front of Lady in Black Gown I, 1984

Ahmed Morsi is a figure who transcends mediums of expression. After graduating from the University of Alexandria with a major in English Literature, his poetic impulses navigated through different artistic terrain. Morsi was a pivotal presence in the literati societies of Baghdad and Alexandria; an artist and critic who developed visionary paintings, stage sets, and the acclaimed avant-garde magazine Galerie ’68—a publication that became the voice of the new Arabic modernism and a cultural source that uniquely manifested a platform for constructive dialogue. In 1974, the artist moved to Manhattan where he continues to explore the extensions and thresholds of expressive form. In his paintings, he mines Alexandria’s fabled artistic and literary history for its iconography, juxtaposing it against everyday elements from New York City—his home for the past forty years. Mannequins, horse skulls and androgynous figures are set against undefined backdrops. Like riddles, Morsi reassembles his disparate elements in elusive, lyrical compositions, where time lapses, and the sea is a palpable presence. His practice offers a powerful and mystical meditation on remembrance and the passage of time. His body of work bears witness to the artist’s life as an Alexandrian that has been living away from home since the 1970s.

CV

Press

12.16.2021
Ahmed Morsi Searches for a ‘Home That Defies Space and Time’ with His Striking Paintings
Alex Greenberger

Art News

12.13.2021
“Detail from a Mural” at Salon 94 Honors the Influential Artist Ahmed Morsi
Farah Abdessamad

Observer

12.07.2021
Shows to See in the US This December
Cassie Packard

Frieze

11.30.2021
Ahmed Morsi’s Anthropomorphic Creatures
Cassie Packard

Frieze

11.29.2021
Ahmed Morsi: Detail from a Mural
Will Fenstermaker

The Guide

10.26.2021
Greater New York at MoMA PS1 presents a city in constant flux
Ariella Budick

Financial Times

01.01.2021
Ahmed Morsi
Phaidon Editors

African Artists: From 1882 to Now

01.09.2019
The Flying Poet
John Martin Tilley

Office Magazine

12.01.2018
Ahmed Morsi
Editors

Art Breath

03.01.2018
Distant Shores
Kaelen Wilson-Goldie

Artforum