Ebtisam Abdulaziz

Ebtisam Abdulaziz is a multidisciplinary artist and writer. She explores issues of identity and culture through installation, performance, mixed media, painting, and works on paper. Combining the scientific with the arbitrary, Abdulaziz draws on her training in science and mathematics, methodically exploring subconscious states and the expansiveness of daily life. She creates codes, systematic structures, graphic language, and performative gestures to force viewers to question their assumptions about rules in the natural and formulaic world. The intimate juxtapositions of these concepts center awareness on our surrounding environment and the issues that perplex and shape us. Abdulaziz’s work has been exhibited at the 53rd Venice Biennale, as part of the United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi Pavilions, in Venice, Italy; 7th and 10th Sharjah Biennial in Sharjah, UAE; Dubai Next in Basel; Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, France; Kunst Museum in Bonn, Germany; Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan; Benin Biennial 2012 at Kora Centre, Benin; FotoFest Biennial, Art in Houston, Texas; Cara Gallery; Smack Mellon gallery in New York; NYUAD Art Gallery; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts; Tampa; and American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center. In 2014, her work was part of the touring exhibition of Past Forward: Contemporary Art from the Emirates, which took place across several U.S. cities and is included in international collections. Her installations, paintings, works on paper, and videos are held in numerous public and private collections. Her video work, “Autobiography 2007,” was purchased for the Guggenheim Museum collection, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Abdulaziz was named on Arabian Business’ “100 Most Powerful Arab Women 2013” list. She has lived in Washington since 2014.