'Common ground for me is everywhere I step': Mohammad Omer Khalil on his five-institution show

"Mohammad Omer Khalil is lauded by artist communities around the world for his dedication to collaboration and pedagogy. But the 90-year-old Sudanese artist and master printmaker remains little known in the US, where he has lived and worked since 1967. Born in Khartoum, Khalil studied painting and subsequently taught at the city's School of Fine and Applied Arts, before learning fresco in Florence and moving to New York. There, he found community at the EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop (EFA RBPMW), which inaugurated his foray into printmaking and shaped the trajectory of his career."

"In addition to teaching at Pratt Institute, the New School, Columbia University and New York University, Khalil started his own printmaking studio in 1970, producing editions with artists such as Emma Amos, Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis, Louise Nevelson and Mavis Pusey. In 1978, Robert Blackburn invited Khalil to participate in the inaugural edition of the Asilah Cultural Moussem, an annual festival and artist residency on the Moroccan coast. Khalil has since returned to Asilah and the Moussem each year, basking in the North African light as he walks the narrow streets of the town's ancient ruins."

"Sometimes I want it clear, sometimes I want it fuzzy-so that it goes with the work and doesn't overpower A series of etchings capturing the light and colour of Asilah gives his current multi-city exhibition its name. Common Ground brings together six decades of Khalil's prints and paintings, alongside ephemera from his travels, oral histories and books, music and movies that have informed his work."

"The exhibition spans five institutions: the Blackburn Study Center at EFA RBPMW in Manhattan; Maqām Studio and Jay Seven Inc in Brooklyn; Twelve Gates Arts in Philadelphia; and the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Related programming in New York takes place at the Africa Center, Anthology Film Archives, Pratt Institute and the Queens Museum."

Mohammad Omer Khalil is a Sudanese artist and master printmaker known internationally for collaboration and pedagogy, while remaining relatively little known in the US despite living and working there since 1967. Born in Khartoum, he studied painting, taught at the School of Fine and Applied Arts, learned fresco in Florence, and moved to New York. At the EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, he began printmaking and developed his career. He taught at major New York institutions and founded his own printmaking studio in 1970, producing editions with prominent artists. He participated in the inaugural Asilah Cultural Moussem in 1978 and returns annually. His exhibition “Common Ground” presents prints, paintings, travel ephemera, and related programming across multiple institutions.

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