Shono’s work—unrestricted by scale, medium, concept, or technology—references cultural lore, spiritual texts, mythology, and urban legends. An architecture graduate, Shono’s practice has seen him study the drawn line, exploring its potential and interpretation. Informed by his family’s history of migration, and interested in abandoned, uninhabited places, the artist explores notions of non-belonging through a practice structured by storytelling. With his post-minimal black, white and gray tonal ranges, he has resolved his work around the potential of the line and the void to create, both as a reference to his drawing practice and as a conceptual framework.
He represented Saudi Arabia at the 59th Venice Biennale with his project The Teaching Tree (2022). His participation in biennials and festivals, include the Sea Art Festival, Busan (2023); Islamic Arts Biennale, Jeddah (2023); Noor Riyadh Festival, Riyadh (2022 and 2023); Lyon Biennale, (2022); Diriyah Biennale, Riyadh, (2021); and Desert X, Al Ula (2020). He has exhibited in various group and solo shows across the region and internationally, including at Louvre Abu Dhabi (2023); Parcours, Art Basel (2022); the British Museum, London (2021 and 2018); GAM Sculpture Garden, Turin (2019); MACBA, Barcelona (2018); Ithra, Dammam (2019); 21.39 Jeddah Arts, Jeddah (2020 and 2017); and Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (2017).
His work is in collection at the British Museum, London; the Art Jameel Foundation, Dubai; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Ithra Art Centre, Dammam; and Al-Mansouria Foundation, Riyadh. Shono is the recipient of the 2021-2022 National Cultural Award in Visual Arts, Saudi Arabia. His forthcoming monograph Muhannad Shono. Works [2014-2024] is published by Kehrer Verlag. He lives and works in Riyadh and is represented by Athr Gallery.
Education
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, B.A in Architecture [2000]
Biennale
Letters in Light (Lines we Write), The Islamic Arts Biennale, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. [2023]
The Teaching Tree, The National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia, la Biennale di Venezia. curated by Reem Fadda. [2022]
After the Fall, 6th edition of the Lyon Biennale, Lyon, France. [2022]
On Losing Meaning, Diriyah Biennale, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [2021]
BIENALSUR. [2020]
Solo
The Silence Is Still Talking, Athr, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, curated by Rahul Gudipudi, [2019]
Children of Yam, Athr, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia [2016]
Exhibition
And to Flounder in This Sea Is Sweet to Me, Sea Art Festival, Busan, South Korea. [2023]
The Unseen, Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE. [2023]
I See You Brightest in the Dark, Noor Riyadh Festival, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [2022]
A Song of Silence, commission for Parcours Art Basel. [2022]
On This Sacred Day, AlUla, Saudi Arabia. [2022]
The Last Garden of Al-Khidr, I Love You Urgently 2139, Jeddah, curated by Maya El Khalil, [2020]
The Lost Path, Desert X, Al Ula, curated by Raneem Farsi, Aya Aliriza & Neville Wakefield, [2020]
Streams Dreams and Flow States, Naphtha, AL Khuzam Historical Palace, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, [2019]
The Caliph Seeks Asylum, Site-Specific Installation for the GAM Sculpture Garden, Torino, Italy [2019]
Albukhary Foundation Gallery , British Museum, London, curated by Venetia Porter [2018]
In The Open Or In Stealth, curated by RAQS Media Collective, MACBA, Barcelona, Spain, [2018]
Al AShirah, The Clocks Are Striking Thirteen, Athr gallery, Jeddah, [2018]
Living Ideas, UNPUBLISHED – artistic observations, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Zurich, [2017]
After the Wildly Improbable, HKW Haus der Kulturen der welt, Berlin, curated by Adania Shibli, [2017]
Kunstresidenz, Bad Gastein [2017]
The Fifth Sun, Safar, 21,39, Jeddah Arts, Jeddah , curated by Sam Bardaouil & Till Fellrath, [2017]
Collections
The Silent press, Center De Pompidou, Paris, France.
Approaching Stillness, The Black Gold Museum, Riyadh
The Wall, The British Museum, London, UK
The Book of Al, The Art Jameel Foundation, Dubai, UAE
Press
Khaleejesque March 2020
Wall Street Journal, Saudi Arabia’s Secret Plans to Unveil Its Hidden da Vinci—and Become an Art-World Heavyweight
Desert Sun, For Desert X Al Ula artists, 'it was important to be heard' at controversial exhibition
Artnet news, ‘I Am Not Part of Some Propaganda Machine’: Artists and Curators Defend Their Participation in the Saudi-Backed Show Desert X AlUla
The National, Maan grant: Saudi artists to sell works to support other creatives in the kingdom
The New York Times, Art Rises in the Saudi Desert, Shadowed by Politics
Arte, MUHANNAD SHONO. THE CALIPH SEEKS ASYLUM (IL CALIFFO CERCA ASILO), 2019
Arab News, Saudi video art exhibition offers new ways of seeing present times
Harpers Bazaar Arabia, Feature, Beyond Words: Saudi Artist Muhannad Shono Creates New Language Through His Conceptual Art, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, by Rebecca Anne Proctor, 2019
Interview, Muhannad Shono: Creating His Own Saudi Narrative, by Marwa Fakih, The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, 2018
Arab News, Highlights from ‘The Silence is Still Talking,’ showing at Jeddah’s Athr Gallery
Independent, Article, How Saudi artists are capturing the spirit of a kingdom in the process of radical reform, The Independent, David Lister, 2018
Saudi Gazette, Interview, Art Talk, Saudi Gazzette, 2017
Harpers Bazaar Arabia, Muhannad Shono Explores Displacement and Migration in Latest Exhibition
