LONDON.- Marlborough Contemporary announced Iraqi-American painter Ahmed Alsoudani has joined the gallery. Alsoudani is known worldwide for his visually dense canvases that evoke the devastation of war and violence. Combining a surrealist’s formal plasticity and psychological impact with a masterful sense of color, he explores complex socio-political themes and the tumultuous repercussions of modernity. His bracing vision reflects his unique position in the global landscape of contemporary art.

“We are proud to welcome Ahmed Alsoudani to the gallery’s increasingly diverse and robust roster of artists,” says Max Levai, Principal Director at Marlborough Contemporary. “Ahmed does not flinch in tackling the political issues that threaten our freedoms and civil liberties. His commitment to drawing on his own experiences of wartime malfeasance is vital, particularly given the uncertainty of the current political climate. However, it is his unique approach to painting that drives the work, combining energetic draftsmanship and bold color into dynamic compositions that make his appeal universal.”

Alsoudani was selected to represent Iraq for the first time at the 54th Venice Biennale (2011), and was chosen for the Matrix series at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Connecticut (2012), joining luminaries like Willem de Kooning, Keith Haring, and Sol LeWitt. His previous exhibitions include the Pinault Foundation at Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2011); Portland Museum of Art, Maine (2013); Phoenix Art Museum in Arizona (2013); Barbara Gladstone Gallery in New York (2014), among others.

This year, his work will be featured at the Frist Center of Visual Art, Tennessee. A monograph of his work was published by Hatje Cantz Verlag in 2009. Collecting institutions of his work include the Burger Collection, Switzerland; Pinault Foundation, Paris; The Saatchi Gallery, London; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, among others. He received his M.F.A. in Painting from Yale in 2008, and his B.F.A. in painting from Maine College of Art. He currently resides in New York City.