At the core of Mahmoud Khaled’s practice lies a probing engagement with the construction of male identity. In a society that is increasingly shaped by mediated and virtual exchanges, Khaled’s work traces the boundaries between what is real and what is hidden, disguised or staged. The impact of his training as an academic painter can be seen in his concern with form, which is at once extravagant and austere.
Mixing photography and video with sculptural forms, sound and text, Khaled’s subjects are often unconventional. His single channel videos and installation have portrayed a professional male belly dancer, a group of body builders, bullfighters and online communities of HIV-infected individuals. Many of his works can be regarded as formal and philosophical ruminations on the value and meaning of art as a form of political activism, an object of desire and a space for critical reflection. His artistic vocabulary is composed of appropriated forms that have been displaced from their original context thereby proposing alternative meanings. His most recent work has taken a more intimate turn by tackling romance and its commemoration. The poignancy of Khaled’s work lies in its delicate articulation of a vulnerability that characterizes the human condition, whether we subscribe to a mainstream value system or not.
Mahmoud Khaled (b. 1982) studied fine art at Alexandria University in Egypt and Trondheim University in Norway. His work - spanning video, photography, sculpture, installation, sound and text - explores what is real and what is hidden, disguised or staged. His solo shows include A New Commission for an Old State at Gypsum Gallery (2018) and Edith-Ruth-Haus, Oldenburg (2016); Proposal for a Porn Company, Galpão VB | Associação Cultural Videobrasil, São Paulo (2016); Painter on a Study Trip, Gypsum Gallery, Cairo (2016); It’s Never Too Late to Talk About Love, Nile Sunset Annex, Cairo (2014); When Meanings Face Glossy Surfaces, Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo (2010) and I Never Wanted to Be Alone in a Room, BALTIC Center for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2010). His group exhibitions include 15th Istanbul Biennale, curated by Elmgreen & Dragset (2017); 13th Sharjah Biennale, curated by Christine Tohmé (2017); Terra Mediterranea - in Action, curated by Yiannis Toumazis, NiMAC Arts Center, Nicosia (2017); Hips Don't Lie, curated by Charlene Dinhut, Centre Pompidou, Malaga (2016); Electronic Superhighway, curated by Omar Kholeif, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2016); Complicity, curated by Aleya Hamza, Sultan Gallery, Kuwait (2016); Lofoten International Art Festival, curated by Bassam El Baroni, Lofoten (2013) and the 9th Shanghai Biennale, Intercity Pavilions Project (2012). In 2012 Khaled was awarded the Videobrasil In Context prize, in 2016 he was shortlisted for the 2016 Abraaj Art Prize. Khaled lives and works in Trondheim and Alexandria.