FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Twelve Gates Arts is honored to present Mohammed Omer Khalil: Common Ground, curated by Amina Ahmed and Jenna Hamed. This show will be on view from April 3rd through May 15th, 2026. The exhibition programming includes an opening reception on April 3rd at 6:00 pm and a panel conversation in the afternoon on April 18th.
Common Ground encompasses works spanning multiple satellite venues to create a widespread ripple mirroring Khalil’s transcommunal impact; both descending from and ascending to a lineage of practitioners dedicated to the varied marks of etching, capturing the vibrancy and tonal range within Blackness.
Common Ground takes its title from Khalil’s series of fifteen etchings, each an assemblage of the light and color of the Moroccan coastal town of Asilah. The works trace the passage through the formative places and experiences that have shaped his work: the landscapes in Sudan that left an everlasting impression; his classical training in etching developed in Florence; the camaraderie forged within a global community of artists stewarding the Asilah printmaking workshop; and his life in New York City, where he raised his family, taught, ran M.O.K. Studio, and continues to nurture an active creative practice.
Twelve Gates Arts exhibits Khalil’s work paying homage to Sudan, featuring a selection of collage paintings from the Suakin series alongside a portfolio of etchings based on Tayeb Salih’s novel, Season of Migration to the North. The gallery invites the local community into the broader retrospective by offering reading material and rare footage of Sudan, serving as a space for research and deep engagement with Khalil’s painting and printmaking practices.
The multi-venue exhibition is curated by Amina Ahmed and Jenna Hamed in partnership with the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, in addition to venue partners at Twelve Gates Arts, Philadelphia; Arab American National Museum, Dearborn; Maqam Studio, Brooklyn; Jay Seven Inc, Brooklyn.
Mohammad Omer Khalil: Common Ground is made possible with major support from Teiger Foundation. Mohammad Omer Khalil: Common Ground is also supported by The Jenni Crain Foundation, an initiative dedicated to preserving the legacy of the esteemed artist and curator.
Mohammad Omer Khalil
is a New York–based Sudanese painter and master printmaker (b. 1936, Burri, Khartoum, Sudan).
Khalil is one of Sudan’s first generation of modernist artists. He received classical training in painting in Khartoum before continuing his studies in fresco, printmaking and mosaic in Florence and Ravenna, Italy where he developed his approach to working symbiotically between painting and etching.
In 1967, Khalil immigrated from Khartoum to New York City, where he later established M.O.K., a printmaking studio specializing in editions and partnerships with artists, including Louise Nevelson, Al Held and Sean Scully; galleries including Pace; and workshops such as Robert Blackburn’s. He stewarded the printmaking workshop in Asilah, Morocco for 28 years, where worked alongside an international community of resident artists. Khalil also mentored generations of printmakers during his time instructing at Pratt Institute, New York University, and Columbia University.
Khalil has presented his prints and paintings in the United States, with notable exhibitions at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington and Lee University Museums, Twelve Gates Gallery, Aicon Gallery, and Skoto Gallery. His prints and editions are held in major public collections, including the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, New York Public Library, National Academy of Design, Brooklyn Museum, the Library of Congress, and the Museum of the City of New York, with a recent significant acquisition by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His paintings are also included in the Artworks by African Artists collection at the National Archives.
Khalil’s work has received international acclaim from institutions including Al-Bareh Gallery, which has organized several solo exhibitions of his work, including 50 Years of Printmaking. Other major presentations include a solo exhibition at Institut Du Monde Arabe, Homeland Under My Nails atMosaic Rooms (2019), as well as exhibitions at Meem Gallery, Mathaf, and the Sharjah Art Foundation.
Khalil has participated in numerous international graphic arts biennials, including the Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts, the Osaka Triennial in Japan, and the Inter-Biennale of Cairo, Egypt in 1993 where he was awarded first prize.
Amina Ahmed
(b. 1964, in Uganda, East Africa is a multidisciplinary muslim artist working across painting, printmaking, bookmaking and textiles.
Of Kutchi-Indian, Turkic (Bukhara), and Nubian heritage, Amina grew up in England and currently lives in the USA. She studied at Winchester School of Art and Chelsea School of Art before earning an MA in Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts from the Royal College of Art.
Jenna Hamed
is an artist and art worker based in Queens, New York, with roots in metro Detroit and Jerusalem, Palestine.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion and Fine Art from Eastern Michigan University and a Master’s degree in Arts Politics from New York University. Her practice brings together curation, editorial, and bookmaking through visual, material, and archival research. She is the steward of Jay Seven Inc., est. 2024, an independent, artist-run studio, gallery, publisher, and advisory space in Brooklyn where she nurtures collaborative initiatives around artist representation and publishing, fostering slow-grown, community-based connections centered between New York City and Jerusalem. She has organized exhibitions with Baxter Street at the Camera Club, Subtitled NYC, the Center for Book Arts, and Jay Seven Inc., each accompanied by a publication she produced collaboratively.