Alia Ahmad's Debut Hong Kong Show at White Cube Explores Riyadh Landscape

Alia Ahmad presents her debut solo exhibition in Asia, 'In Time, A Bloom / مع الوقت، تزهر', at White Cube Hong Kong, featuring 21 new works in ink on paper and oil paintings (all 2026). The show spans two floors and multiple rooms, including a corridor. Ahmad, born in 1997, visualizes her hometown of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a desert plateau city, through layered brushwork that evokes the desert's transformations. Her training in research and digital culture informs her approach to layering. The exhibition includes works such as 'Greens and Greenery / مشجر', 'Night Walks / مرسى ١', 'Flowers In Bloom / ورود مزهرة', 'Solace / سوان', and 'Vachellia Seyal Var / السيال'. Ahmad's style references historical female landscape painters like Georgia O'Keeffe and Agnes Martin, as well as Saudi modernists Safeya Binzagr and Mohammed Al Saleem. An accompanying essay by Mirene Arsanios, titled 'A Total Flower', contextualizes Ahmad's work within ecological concerns and indigenous traditions like Al Sadu textile weaving and Arabic calligraphy. The exhibition runs until 27 June.