“I like the power of expression that comes out of just doing things”
Born in Abha in 1979, Ahmed Mater is one of Saudi Arabia’s most celebrated young artists. His last solo exhibition was opened by the King of Saudi Arabia. He is also, as he puts it, a man of many masks. As well as being a qualified GP he is a landscape photographer and the face of one of the region’s largest mobile phone companies.
Born and raised in Abha, capital of Aseer (a region to the south of Saudi Arabia), Mater remains rooted in his Aseeri local identity. As well as leading a young artistic collective called Ibn Aseer (Son of Aseer), he is an integral part of the recent history of Abha’s Miftaha Arts Village, part of the King Fahad Cultural Centre.
For ‘Edge of Arabia’ Mater has contributed two pieces involving X-Rays. Each combines this medical imagery with the memory of local artefacts such as the talisman of Fatima, or the opening pages of traditional religious texts. With Illuminations he draws out an important theme in his work by examining polarity and conversation, presenting two human torsos that are both in opposition to each other yet dependent on their counterpart. As with so much of Mater’s work, the aim is to shed light and create dialogue.
