Latifa Alajlan
Artist Portrait by Lile Kvantaliani
Latifa Alajlan (b. 1998, Kuwait City, Kuwait) channels elements of Kuwaiti culture in her paintings through use of patterning and form. Alajlan’s latticework-like underpaintings and gestural use of impasto reflect prevalent motifs in Middle Eastern architecture, including places of worship, government buildings, historical sites, and monuments. While Alajlan’s mode of abstraction is respective of the history of non-representative art in the Middle East, her expressive, atmospheric works represent a distinct and somatically evocative, conceptually driven practice. Flight-like gestures intermingle with identifiable idioms, calling systems of structure into question.
Latifa Alajlan earned an M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2023, and a B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2021. Alajlan was a 2024 artist-in-Residence at Bait Shouaib Art Residency in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Latifa Alajlan is represented by Franklin Parrasch Gallery.
The Ceiling Kept Our Secrets, 2026
oil, acrylic, and graphite on linen
46 x 36 in | 116.84 x 91.44 cm
A Sacred Blue, 2026
oil, acrylic, and graphite on linen
26 x 22½ in | 66.04 x 57.15 cm
Fragments of the Muqarnas, 2026
oil, acrylic, and graphite on linen
38 x 76 in | 96.52 x 193.04 cm
One, 2023
oil, acrylic and graphite on linen
55 x 55 inches | 139.7 x 139.7 cm
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
Along the way, something changed, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY (April 9 - May 8, 2026)
I Breathe and I Dream, Galerie Farah Fakhri, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (January 23 - March 20, 2026)
Latifa Alajlan: As Above, So Below,Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY (March 21 - April 26, 2024)
Latifa Alajlan: Under My Skin, FLXST Contemporary, Chicago, IL (September 24 - November 6, 2022)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
Five Painters, Taymore Grahne Projects, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, (May 16 - July 11, 2026)
“Take me to your Leader!”, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY (June 26 - August 15, 2025)
image-ridden impulse, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY (July 11 - August 23, 2024)
Long Walk Off a Short Pier: Abstraction and the Afterlife, Analog Diary, Beacon, NY (June 22—July 14, 2024)
Chromazones, Analog Diary, Beacon, NY (July 21—October 14, 2023)
Graduate Exhibition One, SAIC Galleries, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (March 1—8, 2023)
Eye-diolect: Susanne Doremus Selects, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL (March 25—April 30, 2022)
Against Impossibility, FLXST Contemporary, Chicago, IL (February 12—March 28, 2021)
PRESS:
Latifa Alajlan on Space, Abstraction, and Her Solo Exhibition at Franklin Parrasch Gallery, Art Currently, Spring 2026,
African Debut: I Breathe and I Dream at Galerie Farah Fakhri, Galerie Farah Fakhri,Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Valérie Bony, BBC News Afrique, January 24, 2026
“Latifa Alajlan debuts at Art Basel with Franklin Parrasch Gallery.”Kuwait Times, December 9, 2023.
Artforum designates Latifa Alajlan: As Above, So Below (Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY) a Must-See Exhibition, April 25, 2024.
“Confrontational Color at Analog Diary.”Two Coats of Paint, September 6, 2023
“Your Concise Chicago Art Guide for Fall 2022.” Hyperallergic, September 7, 2022
“A Thrilling Juxtaposing: A Review of Susanne Doremus at Zolla/Lieberman Gallery.” New City Art, April 15, 2022
“From the Desert Dunes to the Motor Row District: FLXST Contemporary Proudly Introduces Latifa Alajlan to the Art World.”Medium, July 27, 2021