Rashid Al Khalifa

 Born in 1952 in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Rashid Al Khalifa moved to the UK in 1972 to study at Hastings College of Arts and Technology in Sussex, Inspired by impressionism, and it was upon his return to Bahrain in 1978, that he began his own renditions of his country's landscapes, producing a series of works of the desert, sea, and historical sites.

Such atmospheric landscape paintings mark the beginning of Rashid's artistic career, which in the 1980s evolved to figurative works, whereby he merged elements of landscapes and the female form with fleeting mark-making. In the 1990s, his style of painting underwent a noticeable change, nonetheless romantic, as he began to incorporate foliage, pattern and a darker colour palette.

Rashid shifted his attention again in the early 2000s, towards the formation of the convex canvas, further abstracting forms on the surface which resulted in a synthesis of colour and gesture. In the late 2000s, he began to experiment with totally different materials, frequently dictated by the sculptural form of the convex, which led to a much more minimalistic style. It was then that he began to engage the smooth façade that his chosen material aluminium, offered. Rashid continued to consider and equate the susceptibility, mechanics and geometric processes involved in certain aspects of the designs and architecture that he visualized in Bahrain's ever-changing landscape, and he quickly began to incorporate these findings into his practice. His resulting works from 2015 onwards are indeed inherent of a certain dichotomy; they are powerful and dominating, but concurrently effortless, delicate and meditative.

Rashid's oeuvre is in many ways defined by its diversity in terms of style and medium. However, there is an undercurrent that flows through decades of creative work, driven by his desire to develop and evolve. In many respects, the stylistic transitions that define certain periods, reflect the changing landscape of his country and the passages of his life.

Rashid has engaged in a number of international exhibitions at various renowned institutions, including Das Kleine Museum, the Zurab Tseretseli Museum of Modern Art, the Liechtenstein Landesmuseum, the Rosenhang Museum, the Saatchi Gallery, and the Bahrain National Museum. He has also participated in the 2019 Moscow Biennale, the 56th and 57th Venice Biennale, TRIO Biennial, Art Dusseldorf, Art Cairo, Westbund Art and Design, LAPADA Art Fair, and Art Dubai.