Maha Malluh (Najd, Jeddah-Saudi Arabia, 1959).
She lives and works between Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and London, UK.
Maha Malluh’s work is influenced by her spiritual connection to the historic region of Najd, Saudi Arabia, with its distinctive architecture, strong religious and cultural heritage and colourful patterned textiles. Continuous in her artwork, that started with collages and developed into photograms, is her use of symbolic and real imagery to express her opinion about life in Saudi Arabia and she explores the challenges of modernity that have come so overwhelmingly to Saudi Arabia. In recent year, Malluh has turned to mixed media installations, using found objects that are understood as symbolic of a collective, communal identity; these materials include massive chinco dishes, cassette tapes of religious lectures, discarded oil barrels and metal doors typical of the region.
She has exhibited since 1976 and has in later years acquired a BA in English literature and a Californian certificate in design and photography. She has had a number of international solo and group shows including at the Louvre Abu Dhabi (2017), Centre Pompidou, Paris (2016), the British Museum, London (2012) and among other institutions such as Just Des(s)erts at Selma Feriani Gallery, London, 2012 ; The Bravery of Being Out of Range II at The Sultan Gallery, Kuwait City (2012) Journeys, Stories of the World at Orleans House Gallery, London (2011) and Transition at Edge of Arabia, Istanbul (2010).
