Talal Al Najjar: Disrupting the Familiar by Way of Absurdism

In Talal Al Najjar’s world, sculptures hum with irony, digital animations fold time into satire, and archival fragments are rearranged until they reveal something wholly unfamiliar. “The absurdity of life, the universe, humans, reality—that’s what fuels my work,” he says. “I like to provoke questions rather than prescribe answers.”

At just 26, the Emirati artist has established himself as one of the region’s most intriguing interdisciplinary voices, moving fluidly between Dubai and Los Angeles, and between his roles as artist, curator, and writer. His practice, which he describes as “researching, archiving, and distorting,” thrives on defamiliarisation and a deliberate process of reseeing the material world to uncover its overlooked meanings.

“I come from a creative and multicultural family background,” he explains. “My mother is an artist, my father is an architect—both encouraged my pursuit of art.” Those early exposures to museums and art camps abroad shaped his sensibility, as did his growing fascination with theory. “I always strived to carve out my own language within my own sociocultural contexts, and got very into the theoretical and philosophical aspects of art.”

That intellectual curiosity has become the foundation of a practice steeped in critical inquiry. Influenced by artists such as Pierre Huyghe, Pipilotti Rist, and Hito Steyerl, as well as thinkers like Jean Baudrillard and J.G. Ballard, Al Najjar’s work sits at the intersection of visual culture, philosophy, and anthropology. “They build worlds and experiences, transform spaces, and reconsider the relationship between art, experience, and viewer,” he reflects. “That’s something I deeply resonate with.”

His recent solo exhibition Mesh & Mayhem at Tabari Artspace marked a turning point. “It was a blast,” he recalls. “It’s important to me to engage with other artists and spaces within the region, not limited by borders.” Prior to that, his Petro-Ghareebo: NAUSEA video was presented at Diriyah Art Futures Museum. Al Najjar’s art is informed by a distinctly regional yet globally attuned sensibility, one that questions how we define ‘the local’ in an era of endless digital reproduction.

“It’s important to deconstruct and recontextualise things,” he muses. “How can I break or twist something to present it as new to contemplate?” The artist often plays with simulation, postproduction, and counter-futurisms, an aesthetic that mirrors the paradoxes of modern life in the Gulf—hypermodern yet deeply historical.

Looking ahead, he hopes to see the regional art scene evolve through experimentation and risk-taking. “New grassroots initiatives like artist-run spaces and experimental labs aside, I’d like to see local audiences engage more in order to create a better understanding of what contemporary art is, and what it can be.”

Equally, he sees his role as an educator and interlocutor within that ecosystem. “I’d definitely like to get more involved within the education realm,” he shares. “Whether it’s being told by students I’ve inspired them to pursue art seriously or simply changing someone’s perspective on art or life—that’s encouraging. The Gulf’s art ecosystem is still malleable, and I like that I’m a part of sculpting it.”

For Al Najjar, art is a mirror held up to reality, refracted through humour and theory. “Defamiliarisation isn’t about alienation,” he says. “It’s about seeing the world again for the first time.”