Bio
Jala Wahid (*1988) works across sculpture, film, sound and installation. Her practice looks to the emotive potential of material and politics in exploring the machinations and legacy of empire, colonialism and Kurdish diaspora. Aesthetically alluring, sensual and often delirious her works seek to establish a counter narrative to colonial rhetoric, bringing together contested histories and poetic expression. She is interested in the complexities of nationalism, history, iconography and methods of archiving and existence.
Jala Wahid received her BA from Goldsmiths College, London in 2014 and completed her PgDip in Fine Art at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2019.
Selected solo exhibitions include: I Love Ancient Baby at GAK, Bremen, Conflagration, Tramway, Glasgow, and later at John Hansard Gallery, Southampton; Metaphysical Reunification, SOPHIE TAPPEINER, Vienna, Mock Kings, Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg (2023); Conflagration, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle, AFTERMATH, Niru Ratnam Gallery, London (2022); Rock Fortress, CAS Batumi, Batumi, Cry Me a Waterfall, Two Queens, Leicester (2021); Rock Fortress E.A. Shared Space, Tbilisi (2020); Newroz, SOPHIE TAPPEINER, Vienna (2019); Akh Milk Bile Threat, Seventeen Gallery, London, Shahmaran, Clearview, London (2017).
Recently, her work has been included in group shows held at the following institutions: Primary, Nottingham, Nottingham (2024), Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, Leeds, Stavanger Kunstmuseum, Stavanger, Boskamp-Stiftung, Hohenlockstedt (2023), Goldsmiths CCA, London (2022), CAPC Museum, Bordeaux (2020) SculptureCenter, New York, Arnolfini, Bristol, De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill (2019), Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham (2018).
Wahid co-edited SALT. Magazine from 2012-2019.
PRESS / TEXTS
Oil Aesthetics and Imperial Violence
interview with Jala Wahid and Edwin Coomasaru
British Art Studies
Jala Wahid
Alex Hull
Art Monthly
Review
Sarah Jilani
ArtReview Asia
Review
Rosalie Doubal
Frieze
Review
Adeola Gay
Art Agenda
Jala Wahid: Cry me a Waterfall
Amrit Doll
Artreview
Anxiety is a feeling of unease
Antonia Marsh
Luncheon Magazine
These Art The Essential Artists You Need to Now Right Now
Louise Benson
ELEPHANT
Feature
Attilia Fattori Franchini
Mousse Magazine
Review
Tom M. Hastings
Frieze
Why Contemporary Women Artists Are Obsessed with the Grotesque
Tess Thackara
Artsy