Lot 33A, B
Mohamed Abdella Otaybi (Sudanese, born 1948)
Displacement, 2021 and Untitled X, 2020
Signed ‘021 signature’ (lower right), ‘020 signature’ (lower right)
Acrylic on canvas, Pencil on paper
74.8 x 49 cm, 41.2 x 29.5 cm
US$ 3,000 – 5,000 for the painting and drawing
Provenance: from the artist’s collection
Bought in
Mohamed Abdella Otaybi graduated from the Khartoum College of Fine and Applied Arts and began working as an artist during the dynamic period of the 1970s, where he was immersed in debates about cultural heritage and Sudanese visual identity of the Khartoum School at the time. Long recognised as an influential figure in Sudanese art, Otaybi’s painterly language has evolved throughout his career, consolidating his reputation as a colourist. Otaybi is also a celebrated cartoonist and illustrator, and elements of his graphic and satirical approach often translate into his paintings.
As well as holding regular solo exhibitions in Khartoum from 1970 to the present, he has shown in international group exhibitions including the Sharjah Biennial, UAE, 1993; Modernism in Sudanese Art, British Museum, London, 2004; Sudan: Emergence of Singularities, P21 Gallery, London, 2017 and Khartoum Contemporary, Circle Art Gallery, Nairobi, 2017. His work features in private and public collections including the National Museum in Sharjah, UAE. In 2018, Otaybi was the focus of the article ‘Masters We Need to Master’, Collector Magazine, Art Africa. In 2020, he had his first solo exhibition at Circle Art Gallery, The Lost Paradise.
This Lot also includes a preparatory drawing for works made during the same period.