Tribute to Mohammed Alsaleem

Tribute to Mohammed Alsaleem (2021)

Noor Riyadh 2021, the first light art celebration in the country’s history, is the perfect setting to unveil a never-before-seen work by pioneer Saudi artist Mohammed Alsaleem and to reveal a missing chapter in the history of Saudi art. This work consists of two computer graphics that the artist made towards the end of his life and were found in his Florence residence after his death, framed together with a floppy disc that includes the digital paintings’ original files; a third, more vibrantly colored, file was also discovered inside the floppy disc. The three images are used to create an animated tribute to the artist’s many contributions to the field and acknowledge his trailblazing role in Saudi Arabia as a digital artist: a homage to his continuing interest in painting with light – after all, are pixels not dots of light? The tribute is projected on the façade of the King Fahad National Library, which hosts a collection of art books donated by Alsaleem.