Following her exhibition The Butterfly's Burden, Lawrie Shabibi is pleased to announce the representation of Nada Elkalaawy. The gallery will co-represent the artist alongside Gypsum Gallery, Cairo, and Matt Carey-Williams, UK.
Nada Elkalaawy (b.1995) is an Egyptian artist living and working in London. She holds an MFA in Painting from the Slade School of Fine Art, and a BA in Fine Art from Kingston University.
Elkalaawy approaches painting as a form of world-building, constructing images that hover between recollection and invention while exploring the relationship between memory, identity and fiction. Her compositions bring fragments from different sources, places and periods into a single pictorial space, creating scenes that feel familiar without fully belonging to a particular time nor narrative. They often begin with recognisable details, such as domestic objects, family portraits or references from art history, but subtle shifts in scale and perspective, alongside reflections and repeated forms, introduce a sense of uncertainty, blurring the distinction between what is remembered and what is imagined.
Raised between Alexandria and London, her work is informed by an ongoing interest in cultural histories, belonging and the emotional significance of everyday life. Drawing from an extensive archive of family albums, still lifes, daguerreotypes, auction catalogues and found imagery, she isolates and recombines details according to their visual or emotional resonance. Through carefully constructed crops, shadows and mirrored forms, she transforms ordinary scenes into something more otherworldly, inviting closer attention to overlooked details and leaving space for viewers to bring their own associations to what they encounter.
Elkalaawy's solo shows include: Lawrie Shabibi (Dubai), Matt Carey-Williams (London), Gypsum Gallery (Cairo), Taymour Grahne Projects (London) and Galerie DuflonRacz (Bern). Selected group presentations include: Middle East Institute (Boston); Gypsum, Frieze (London); Lawrie Shabibi, Frieze (New York); Hatch Gallery (Paris); Union Pacific (London); Droste Galladé (Paris); Workplace (London); Marlborough Gallery (London); Half Gallery (New York); Woaw Gallery (Hong Kong); The Africa Centre (London); Kino Der Kunst (Munich); Sharjah Art Gallery (Cairo); Southwark Park Galleries (London); Nahim Isaias Museum (Guayaquil), amongst others. Elkalaawy has been awarded several residencies, including Pro Helvetia Studio Residency (Bern) and L’appartement 22 (Rabat), and her practice is featured in the Anomie’s review of Contemporary British Painting 2024. She participated in public events including a commission for Liverpool Arab Arts Festival; The National Trust and Liquitex.
Alongside her individual studio practice, Elkalaawy co-founded artist group ‘K-oh-llective’, a platform that facilitates opportunities and collective conversations around art practices in Egypt and the Arab world.
Her work is included in the X Museum collection (Beijing), Soho House collection (London) and
