RIYADH: For decades, pioneers of Saudi art were overlooked and under-documented, but in Misk Art Institute’s latest Solo Series two more of them are brought to light in an effort to cement their place in the Kingdom’s history: Fouad Mougharbel and Saad Almasari.
“It’s critical to highlight these pioneering artists, because they are the ones that paved the way for the art scene today,” Aram Alajaji, co-curator of Almasari’s “Geometry as Thought,” tells Arab News. “They both have extensive bodies of work, but it’s not only their bodies of work that make them important artists. They played key roles in nurturing the artistic community — Saad in more of an institutional framework, and Fouad founded a lot of artist groups within the country and within the broader GCC.”
Fouad Mougharbel. (Supplied)
The exhibition space hosts two separate shows — one for each artist — that meet in the center. Visitors can learn about the rich history of both men through their work, along with press clippings, color swatches, and old photographs.
“I think what makes them so interesting together is not necessarily that they’re similar in style, or from the same geographic location in Saudi or anything like that; they complement each other because they are so distinct,” Alajaji says.
Almasari, who studied in the US after high school, has participated in more than 50 international exhibitions and received numerous awards, including the Islamic Heritage Year Award in 1990. He once led the art department at the Ministry of Education.
As the exhibition demonstrates, he has developed a distinct visual language grounded in the geometric and ornamental systems of Islamic art, employing repetition and symmetry as foundational principles that shape both form and meaning. Thirty-six of his works are featured, including paintings, sculptures, and ceramics.
Fouad Mougharbel's 'Al-Manakha Neighborhood' (left, 2016) and 'Nasser's House' and 'From Architectural Heritage (2)' (right, 2018-2022). (Supplied)
In his sculptural and ceramic works, form becomes a language of both structural precision and spiritual resonance, demonstrating how geometry can govern space while embodying spirituality through physical material.
“It’s quite rare to encounter an artist that has such a polyhydric approach and such a multimedia approach and to be so skilled in the different things that he does,” Alajaji says. “His visual language stands apart from a lot of his peers, which makes his practice really important to shed light on. And beyond his artistic practice, of course, he contributed extensively on an institutional level.”
Mougharbel’s exhibition — “Taibah: Remnants and Solace,” curated by Shadin Albulaihed and Nada Alaradi — focuses on his hometown of Madinah. Mougharbel’s canvases capture the tight alleyways, the enclosed wooden windows that are central to the city’s architecture, and the grandness of the Prophet’s Mosque. His paintings and ceramics not only capture exteriors, but the traditions of everyday life, from traditional dances to communal rituals and horse races. Having witnessed the city’s transformation firsthand, Mougharbel revisits historic quarters such as Alsaha, Almanakha, and Alsultan. These spaces reappear as layered compositions that move between figuration and abstraction, structured through shifting fields of line, color, and light.
“He really preserves and honors these neighborhoods in Madinah — neighborhoods that no longer exist. “He offers an invaluable, but yet, tangible, feel of the city, especially since it’s a transforming city now,” Alajaji says. “He’s been instrumental in building artist networks and collective, and he was one of the founding members of the Friends of Fine Art group.”
Some of the ceramic works on display in Misk's current Solo Series. (Supplied)
Mougharbel also studied overseas — he holds a master’s degree from the University of New Mexico in the US, and a PhD in art education from the University of Hull in the UK. He has exhibited in several countries since the 1960s, including Italy, the UK, Egypt, the US, and Saudi Arabia. In addition to the GCC Art Friends of Fine Art Group, he co-founded the Madinah Artists Group and contributed greatly to the documentation of Saudi art history by authoring several books on art and visual culture.
“Both Saad and Fouad graduated from the Institute of Art Education, and even though that was an institute for art education, they would go out and sketch, they would do ceramics and use a kiln. I think being so hands-on, like these artists when they were younger, is very evident in the work,” Alajaji says. “I hope that (younger and emerging artists) will feel inspired (by the show) and want to learn more about their techniques. It would be nice for young artists to come and appreciate what was there before them and to really be influenced by it.”
