Sultan Bin Fahad’s (b. 1971, Riyadh, KSA, where he lives and works) atypical background studies in Business Administration, sets the tone to his distinctive practice.
Bin Fahad considers art as a journey between intangible memories and tangible cultures. Throughout his abstract paintings, sculptures and installations bin Fahad’s central theme and object of concern remains spirituality and the material culture of his native Saudi Arabia. Reinterpreting histories, stories and narratives with the use of material cultures, bin Fahad transposes these narratives to contemporary cultures as a reassessment and personal take on Islamic Art. Themes central to his practice revolve around repetition, sound and movement, using symbols that derive from Islam. In his ongoing photographic series, Bin Fahad invites the viewer to reflect in unconventional ways on the space between human interaction, faith and reconstructed memorabilia(s).
Connecting past to present, his stories evoke multi-layered journey(s) between the latent relationship of what is remembered and what remains silently contained within the corporeal. Most recently, he has combined traditional metalwork with architecture by sculpting a series of minarets, invoking man’s relationship with Islamic cities.
Bin Fahad has presented a solo exhibition: Qounot,’ at Alàan gallery in Riyadh, KSA [2016], The Red Palace in Riyadh, Jeddah and Abu Dhabi (2019-2020) and participated in several group exhibitions including: Contemporary Art 014, Madina Art Center, Madina, KSA [2018]; Vantage Point, Sharjah Art Foundation [2018]; Contemporary photography from the Arab world, American University Museum Katzen Art Center, Washington DC (2018); Dreams and Memory, Athr Gallery, Jeddah, KSA (2016), Frequency , Palazzo Rinoceros, Rome, (2020) Forever is Now,Cairo (2021) Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, (2021) Desert X AlUla, AlUla(2022) Islamic Art Biennale 2023.
Sultan bin Fahad's work was acquired by the Palestine Museum 2016, King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture - Ithra in 2019, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi 2020 And the Royal commission of Al Ula 2022.