Faig Ahmed (
Azerbaijani: Faiq Əhməd) (born 1982 in
Sumqayit, Azerbaijan) is an
Azerbaijani contemporary visual artist who is best known for his
surrealist weavings which integrate visual distortions into traditional
oriental rugs.[1]
Ahmed graduated from the sculpture program at the
Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts in
Baku in 2004.[2] In 2007, Ahmed's work was included in the Azerbaijan's first pavilion in the
Venice Biennalle[1][3] in 2013 he participated in the show “Love Me, Love Me Not”[4] and the 11th Mercosul Visual Arts Biennial[5] in 2018.
While Ahmed has created artworks in multiple media, including sculpture, video, and
installation, he is best known for his surrealist sculptural textiles, which apply optical illusions in the form of often
psychedelic visual manipulations (including warping,
glitching, melting, pixelating, and unraveling) to traditional Islamic rugs.[6] The textiles are manufactured by a group of skilled weavers who follow Ahmed's designs paying strict attention to traditional Azerbaijani weaving techniques.[7][8]
Exhibitions
Ahmed has exhibited his works worldwide including group and solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, London, Berlin, Moscow, Dubai, Sharjah, Mumbai, Rome, Venice, Washington D.C., Hong Kong, Mumbai, Moscow, Azerbaijan, Sweden, Norway, Honolulu, Melbourne, and Sydney.
In the past few years, Ahmed's works have been exhibited in several museums including the Museum of Fine Art Boston, Los Angeles County Museum, Bellevue Art Museum, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, MOCA Cleveland, Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome (MACRO),
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, NYU Abu Dhabi, the Textile Museum of Sweden, the Projective Eye Gallery at UNC Charlotte, New Tretyakov Gallery, Istanbul Modern and others.
Additionally in 2013, he was nominated for the Jameel Prize 3 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Collections
Ahmed's rug sculptures are held in notable public collections, including the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
Seattle Art Museum,
RISD Museum,[2] Art Institute of Chicago, Seattle Art Museum, Palm Springs Museum of Art, Chrysler Museum of Art, Currier Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design Museum (RISD), Wake Forest University Museum; Bargoin Museum, France; MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art, Poland; The National Gallery of Victoria, Australia; Arsenal art contemporain Montréal, Canada; The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Norway.
His works has also been placed in private collections such as the West Collection, Philadelphia; the collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody, New York City; Galila Barzilaï-Hollander's collection, Brussels, Espacio SOLO, Puerta de Alcalá, Madrid; and the private collection of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa al-Nahyan, United Arab Emirates among others.
Selected exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
2022
Faig Ahmed: Collision. San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. San Luis Obispo, California, USA
2021
“Faig Ahmed: Pir” Sapar Contemporary gallery. New York, USA
2020
"Faig Ahmed: Dissolving Order" Aga Khan Museum. Toronto, Canada
2019
”Faig Ahmed” Honolulu Museum of Art. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
“Faig Ahmed” Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
2018
“ Faig Ahmed: Nonvisual Language” The George Washington University Museum.
The Textile Museum. Washington, USA
2017
“ Faig Ahmed “ Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, Lancaster, USA
“ Equation “ Textile Museum of Sweden, Borås, Sweden