Ali Eyal
Ali Eyal is an Iraqi artist whose multidisciplinary practice—spanning drawing, painting, assemblage, and film—considers the entanglements of personal memory, political violence, and loss. His work blurs the lines between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary, research-based methodologies, crafting meditative yet impactful narratives that reflect the condition of a generation beset by foreign interference and mourning the erosion of cultural identity.
Eyal (b. 1994, Baghdad, Iraq) earned an undergraduate degree from the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad. Recent solo exhibitions include Brief Histories, New York; and SAW Gallery, Ottawa. Group exhibitions include the 14th Mercosul Biennial in Porto Allegre, Brazil; 58th Carnegie International, Pittsburgh; Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago; Documenta 15, Kassel; MoMA PS1, New York; and Beirut Art Center, Beirut. Eyal’s video work is included in the 22nd Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil: Memory is an Edition Station, São Paulo; Rencontres Internationales, Paris; VITRINE x Kino Screenings, London; Sharjah Film Platform, Sharjah; and Cairo Video Festival, Cairo. In 2023, Eyal was featured in Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present. Eyal will be participating in Made in L.A. 2025 at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.
His work is held in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Kadist Art Foundation, Paris; and Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah. Eyal lives and works in Los Angeles.
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My mom surprised me to show me a 2000 calendar, but what did I show my mom?, 2024 -
“I hope they will see this and” On Facebook, write your name clearly without flourishes or diacritics. If it’s in English, write your name clearly. It’s possible we will search for you. We hope to see you., 2024
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You need to go back to page number “13” to not understand anything, and, 2023
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Paper, pen, map in a pocket and, 2023
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Three heads walking between towns, and, 2022
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The blue ink pocket, and, 2022
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An Indefinite appearance or two walls and, 2022
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The Blue Ink Pocket, 2022
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Where do the walls of the museum go when they are forgotten? And, 2021
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Berlin's drawing pad, and, 2020
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Where Does A Thought Go When It's Forgotten?, 2019 - 2022
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Painting Size 60 x 80cm, 2019
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Tonight’s Programme, 2017
Installation view, David Horvitz & Ali Eyal, A new garden from old wounds, 2024
ChertLüdde, Berlin, Germany
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Tangled Memories
On memory and loss in the work of Ali EyalAndrew Berardini, Artforum, September 3, 2025 -
Floating Narratives: An Interview with Ali Eyal
Noushin Afzali, Berlin Art Week, November 29, 2024 -
In Your Head: The Art of Ali Eyal
Kaelen Wilson-Goldie, Mousse Magazine, January 17, 2024 -
Ali Eyal’s “In the Head’s Sunrise”
Dina Ramadan, E-flux, January 20, 2023 -
Ali Eyal: Land of Shadows Fertilized with Unbridled Memories
Amin Alsaden, Art Asia Pacific, November 1, 2022
