Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali Abdel Karim, known professionally as Ahmed Abdel Karim, is an Egyptian visual artist specializing in painting, born on 13 August 1954. He graduated from the Faculty of Art Education at Helwan University in 1981, earned his Master’s degree in 1985 with a study on rhythmic systems in Islamic geometric art, and completed his PhD in Philosophy of Art Education in 1990, focusing on the analysis of Islamic geometric ornamental systems. In 2000, he was awarded full professorship in the foundations of ornamental design and later served as Vice Dean of the Faculty of Art Education for Community Service and Environmental Development.
He is a member of the Egyptian Syndicate of Fine Artists, the Cairo Atelier for Artists and Writers, and the International Society for Education through Art (InSEA), affiliated with UNESCO in Paris. His artistic practice is rooted in the reinterpretation of Egyptian and Islamic heritage within a contemporary visual language, emphasizing rhythm, symbolism, and structural composition, with particular attention to the relationship between the artwork and spatial context. Since 1983, he has held numerous solo exhibitions in Egypt and abroad, including Cairo, Alexandria, Rome, Paris, Vienna, Riyadh, and Jeddah. Notable exhibitions include Paper Boats, Moon Boats, Memory of Things, Transformation, Saffron Soil (2019), Boats of Illumination (2019), The Sycamore Tree (2021), The Land (2023), and Semiotics of Visual Arts (2024).
He has participated in major local and international group exhibitions, including the Cairo International Biennale and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina International Biennale for the Artist’s Book (2018), alongside exhibitions across Europe and the Arab world. His achievements have been recognized through numerous awards, most notably the State Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2022.
His works are held in prominent public and institutional collections, including the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art in Cairo, the Cairo Opera House, Saudi Arabian Airlines, the Jeddah International Airport Projects Authority, as well as various banks, hotels, and cultural institutions.