B. 1999
Talal Al Najjar is an artist from the Emirates, based between Los Angeles and Dubai.
Driven by collecting, archiving, and distorting, his interdisciplinary practice recontextualizes transhistorical material culture and imagery with an absurdist lens. Defamiliarization and the uncanny teeter and prompt new anthropological and material questions in his work. He produces sculpture, video, sound, CGI animation, painting, and installation, in addition to other media. Primary concerns include ideas around simulation, poor images, artifacts, counter-futurisms, and the contention of postmodern conditions. He received his MFA from ArtCenter College of Design (2023), and his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2021). He has exhibited work in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
EDUCATION
2023, Master of Fine Arts, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA, USA
2021, Bachelor of Fine Arts, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
SOLO & DUAL EXHIBITIONS
2023, Symbiotic: Hyperreal (with Ziad Al Najjar) / Curated by Tala Nassar / NYU Abu Dhabi, UAE; Petro-Ghareebo: NAUSEA / Graduate Thesis Exhibition / Cave Gallery / ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA, USA
2022, Petro-Ghareebo, Cave Gallery, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA, USA L1MB-B0, Cave Gallery, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA, USA L1MB_B0, B13 Gallery, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA, USA, Virtual Ritual, Raymond Gallery, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA, USA, CrasH! (with Brennan Stalford), Mike Kelley Foundation Graduate Art Gallery, Pasadena, CA, USA
2021, Tittering, B13 Gallery, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA, USA, Cetacea, Appendix Projects, Online
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023, Postmordial Soup, ICD Brookfield Place, Dubai; The Deluge, Curated by Catherine Taft, The Box, Los Angeles, CA, USA Swamped, Book Launch, Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles, CA, USA; AftertheEnd, Curated by Catherine Taft, New Art Dealers Alliance, Online
2022, Liquify, Yiwei Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ybna Al3eid (Co-curator, with Salem AlSuwaidi), Bayt AlMamzar, Dubai, UAE; Fractured Existence, Al Fahidi, Dubai, UAE, Cohort Show, Mike Kelley Foundation Graduate Art Gallery, Pasadena, CA, USA
2021, MFA Group Show, The Goodan Family Graduate Art Gallery, Pasadena, CA, USA
13 PAINTERS, 3FTD Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Made in the Emirates: Connected, Collected, Engage 101, Sotheby’s, Dubai, UAE
Anthropopeia, Appendix Projects, Online
Undergraduate Thesis Exhibition, School of the Art Institute of Chicago Galleries, Chicago, IL, USA
2020, Playing Spaces, Engage 101, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, UAE; ReassigningValues, Jameel Arts Centre / Dubai, UAE
2019, Chicago Art Book Fair, Chicago, IL, USA
2016, Sikka Art Fair , Al Fahidi , Dubai, UAE
ART FAIRS
2024, Art Dubai Digital, UAE
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2022, Teaching Assistant for core faculty Shahryar Nashat, “A class on repetition, a class on repetition,” Fall ‘22, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA, USA; Introduction to lecture: Kahlil Robert Irving in conversation with Jan Tumlir, Fall ‘22, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA, USA; Co-hosted Ybna ElNaqd, a critique session for the Ybna Al3eid exhibition, in collaboration with Salem AlSuwaidi, Swalif Collective, Bayt AlMamzar, Dubai, UAE
2020, Visiting artist, lecturer, Zayed University (Dubai), Dubai, UAE
Visiting artist, lecturer, Zayed University (Abu Dhabi), Abu Dhabi, UAE
Introduction to Sculpture workshop, for Engage 101, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, UAE Guest speaker, “Reflecting on the Jameel Arts Centre 2020 Youth Takeover”, Global Art
Daily, Online (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Tokyo)
Co-founder of pop-up art studio and exhibition space, Nine-01, Dubai, UAE
Assistant sculptor and intern, for the artist Michael Rakowitz, for The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist series, Chicago, IL, USA
2015, Assistant to the painter Ron English, large commission mural for City Walk, Dubai, UAE
AWARDS
2022 Recipient of The Dirwaza Microfund for Creative Access grant, for Ybna Al3eid
2021-2023, Graduate Art Scholarship, ArtCenter College of Design
2016-2021, Good Academic Standing, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
2016-2021, Full scholarship, Undergraduate, from the Ministry of Higher Education, UAE
2016-2021, Creative Honours Scholarship, Undergraduate, from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Works held in private collections in the UAE and USA
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS
2020, commissioned by Daniel H. Rey, Jameel Arts Centre, for Excrescence, a 4 by 8 ft. sculpture, video, and sound installation, for the Youth Takeover: Reassigning Values exhibition, Dubai, UAE
2018, Commissioned to paint O-14 tower’s outdoor sculpture, with Ziad Al Najjar, Dubai, UAE
PUBLICATIONS
2023. Ybna Al3eid (Co-editor, with Salem AlSuwaidi), Publication, SWALIF Publishing House, June 2023; Logged In, Artist book. Self-published, April 2023; Swamped, Group artist book, ArtCenter Graduate Art Press, April 2023
SELECTED PRESS & BIBLIOGRAPHY
2023, TimeOut, “NYUAbu DhabiArt Galleryunveils newshowcase withEmiratiartists”, June 2023
YallaAbuDhabi, “Explore the dualities of tradition and modernity at this NYUAD exhibition”, June 2023
2023, EmiratesNewsAgency, “Emirati artists Talal and Ziad Al Najjar illuminate hyperreality in ‘Symbiotic’ exhibition at NYUAD”, May 2023
Emirates24/7, “Emirati Artists Showcase Balance Between Heritage and Modernity in The Project Space’s Final Exhibition for the Season”, May 2023
AlKhaleej, “Symbiotic: Hyperreal”, an exhibition by two Emirati brothers”, May 2023 Hyperallergic, “An Eclectic Bunch at ArtCenter’s Open Studios”, April 2023
2022, Artforum, Critic’s Pick: Dubai, “Ybna Al3eid”, October 2022
The Culturist, “New season of exhibitions in Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi”, September 2022,
Gulf News, “Take a tour of Dubai’s Bayt Al Mamzar”, September 2022
Dubai Culture, “Immersive VR & Metaverse journeys and inspiring GCC artworks in Sikka 2022”, March 2022
2021, Appendix Projects, Anthropopeia: Talal Al Najjar, March 2021
The Art Newspaper, “What to do when the tourists leave town? How the UAE art scene has innovated during the pandemic”, February 2021
VICE Arabia, “101: A New Platform to Support Emerging Artists in the UAE”, January 2021
2020, Art Curator Grid, “WAW - we are wondering”, December 2020
Global Art Daily, “101 Strikes Again with Second Sale at Alserkal Avenue”, November 2020
The National, “101 presents new ways of buying and experiencing art: flashlight-viewings and late-night workshops”, November 2020
101, Playing Spaces: Talal Al Najjar, November 2020
Global Art Daily, “GAD Talk Series #3: When the Youth Takes Over: Reflecting on the Jameel Arts Centre 2020 Youth Takeover”, November 2020
VICE Arabia, “Youth Curating Youth: Encountering the UAE’s New Artists at the Jameel Youth Takeover”, November 2020
Verticles, The Youth Takeover: Talal Al Najjar, November 2020
ABC, “El dialogo cultural de Daniel H. Rey”, November 2020
Jameel Arts Centre, “The Youth Takeover 2020”, October 2020
The National, “Nine-01: Young Emirati artists transform mall space into art studio”, August 2020
Michael Rakowitz: “The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist”, 2020
2016, Arabian Business, “8 of the Best Artworks at Sikka”, March 2016