Khatab has shown a proclivity and adeptness in portraying Pharaonic imagery and motifs in his paintings, which he tastefully combines with other elements of Islamic and ancient Near Eastern mythology and culture.
Born in Cairo in 1984, Ibrahim Khatab is also a teacher of art at Cairo University. Khatab has since risen to the heights of the contemporary art scene in Egypt with his ingenious compositional method of using chemically-treated layers of discarded newspapers and street posters which he then finishes in acrylic paint. Khatab began his artistic journey at the age of twelve when he would draw murals on street walls, billboards and discarded fragments of cloth; this ignited his passion for Arabic calligraphy, which has since been reflected in his work as the style he rose to prominence on.
Prior to joining Safarkhan’s family of artists in 2015, Khatab held several solo exhibitions, exhibiting at the Gezira Arts Center (2013) and the Selem El Elizeh at Art Lounge Gallery (2015). He has also participated in various international group exhibitions in Oman, Nigeria, Sweden, Qatar, U.A.E., and most recently the Cape Town Art Fair in South Africa, where he has been a regular annual feature since 2016.
The stylistic elements of Khatab’s painting have since evolved and progressed to incorporate more figurative constructs. After spending several years devoting his art to the study and beautification of Arabic calligraphy which he reimagines in an abstract form, Khatab has since shown a proclivity and adeptness in portraying Pharaonic imagery and motifs in his paintings, which he tastefully combines with other elements of Islamic and ancient Near Eastern mythology and culture.