Artist Spotlight - Iyad Almosawi — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Biography

Iyad Almosawi is an Iraqi–Canadian artist whose practice spans more than four decades. Born in Baghdad, he was educated in printmaking and fine arts in Montreal, where he developed a rigorous foundation in drawing, material exploration, and modernist abstraction.

Fragments of Memory 2023 Charcoal and acrylic color on canvas 90 X 90 cm

His work synthesizes Mesopotamian visual memory with a global visual vocabulary, engaging themes of identity, transformation, and collective memory. Almosawi has presented over twenty-eight solo exhibitions internationally, including in Baghdad, Montreal, Rabat, Dubai, London, Kuwait, and Toronto.

Beyond the Reflection 2020 Charcoal & acrylic color on canvas 120 x 80 cm

His practice encompasses painting, monumental charcoal works, mural-scale installations, printmaking, and public art commissions. Across media, he is recognized for his sustained investigation into geometry, symbolic form, and the expressive potential of reduction, particularly in his large-scale black-and-white charcoal works.

The Red Dimension 2023 Charcoal & acrylic color on canvas 142 x88 cm

He is the recipient of the Outstanding Artist Award in Quebec and has completed a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada, in addition to participating in the Asilah Art Center in Morocco.

Geometric Symphony 2020 Charcoal & acrylic on canvas 160 x 120 cm

Earlier in his career, he contributed to the critical discourse on modern Arab through his published writing. His work is held in public and private collections, including the Canada Art Bank and the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection art collection.

The Emerald Sovereign 2020 Charcoal & acrylic on canvas 120 x 80 cm

Collections & Professional Recognition

• Honorary Member, Aga Khan Museum of Modern Art, Toronto
• Museum of Modern Art, Canada • Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa
• Major private and institutional collections across North America, Europe, and the Gulf region
• Mercedes-Benz International acquired his work for an international advertising campaign

The Silent Canopy 2020 Charcoal & acrylic on canvas 120 x 80 cm

Scholarly & Critical Engagement

Alongside his studio practice, Almosawi has contributed to visual culture as a writer and independent scholar. He has published research and essays addressing Arab and Canadian modern art and has lectured on art history and criticism for over four decades.

The Shadow and the Witness 2020 Charcoal & acrylic on canvas 120 x 80 cm

Fulbright Scholar Prof. John Dishman writes: “Art experts in both the West and the Arab world recognize the brilliance of Iyad Almosawi, viewing him as one of the most significant figures among the new generation of artists who have laid the groundwork for a new era in contemporary art.”

Manuscript of the Night Horizon 2026 Charcoal & acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm

Chief Editor Marta Puig of Contemporary Art Curator Magazine (UK) has featured Almosawi in both a critical review and a spotlight feature, further affirming his international relevance

The Architecture of Confinement 2026 Charcoal & acrylic on canvas 120 x 80 cm

Artist Statement

My work is a continuous act of discovery, an ongoing transformation of memory, personal heritage, emotion, and material into form. For over four decades, I have worked across painting, printmaking, sculpture, and spatial constructions, seeking to dissolve the boundary between perception and experience.

Threshold of Contemplation 2026 Charcoal & acrylic on canvas 120 x 80 cm

Nature remains a foundational reference within my practice. Its rhythms, colors, and silences inform my understanding of form, from organic geometries to the modulation of light and the temporality of material. The visual and cultural memory of Baghdad is central to my work, shaping its spatial and symbolic language.

Echoes of Defiance 2026 Charcoal & acrylic on canvas 120 x 80 cm

Heritage, in my work, operates as dialogue rather than nostalgia. Calligraphic line, Mesopotamian symbolism, and the structural logic of Islamic ornamentation are reinterpreted as elements within a broader cultural continuum.

These elements mediate between continuity and transformation, and between the visible and the invisible. The work engages history critically, positioning art as a space that extends beyond historical narrative.

Resolved Presence (Masks Series) 2023 Charcoal & acrylic on canvas 196 x 132 cm

Fragments of collective memory are reconfigured into future-oriented visual structures. Each work operates as both a site of memory and a proposition for new ways of perceiving and constructing space. Iyad Almosawi 2026

www.iyadalmosawi.art
Instagram: @iyadalmosawi.art