Mohammad Omer Khalil, the 90-year-old Sudanese-born printmaker based in New York, is the subject of a multi-city retrospective titled "Common Ground." The anchor exhibition runs through May 31 at the Blackburn Study Center in Manhattan, with satellite events at venues including Twelve Gates Arts in Philadelphia, the Arab American National Museum in Michigan, the New York Public Library, and Anthology Film Archives. Curated by Amina Ahmed and Jenna Hamed, the show spans Khalil's entire career, from his first etching made in Florence in 1964 to large-scale works inspired by Bob Dylan songs, poetry by Adonis, and films such as "The Chalk Garden."
This retrospective matters because it brings long-overdue recognition to an artist who has been celebrated within Arab and African art circles but largely overlooked by the mainstream New York art world. Khalil has had only three solo exhibitions in New York City, and the curators explicitly aim to correct his exclusion from major art historical narratives. The show also highlights the technical mastery and emotional depth of his printmaking, a medium often undervalued in contemporary art, and underscores the importance of diasporic and cross-cultural perspectives in American art.