Today, art is witnessing an intersection of technology and culture, driven by visionary creators who challenge traditional boundaries, using tools like Artificial Intelligence and generative design. In this article, we offer you to learn about four Middle Eastern artists who utilise AI to reimagine the world we live in, blending aesthetics with commentary on society, technology, and heritage.
Hassan Ragab
Ragab (born in Alexandria, Egypt) is an architect, computational designer, and AI concept artist based in California (USA) who graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria in 2010. Drawing from his architectural training and upbringing in Alexandria, he creates mind-blowing images of cities, buildings, and interiors, employing animation and generative AI tools.
At the core of Ragab’s practice is the use of AI to deepen our understanding of contemporary design issues and the built environment. The artist addresses the impact of capitalism on design, visual bias, and the lack of diversity in the digital world. His creative process involves generating over 100 iterations of each piece, experimenting with word prompts to unearth biases that may shape the outcome.
Ragab’s Green Series offers a playful twist on urban landscapes, presenting facades that seem to be covered in vegetation when, in fact, they are green feathers. In the series titled The Cities We Build, mundane cityscapes are transformed by monumental, surreal structures that combine biomimicry with fluid design. In Cairo Sketches, Ragab revisits Islamic geometry through modern mathematical principles, leveraging AI’s capabilities to reimagine these ancient forms.
In his conceptual project Identity on the Verge of Collapse, the artist examines the intersection of technology and identity, using generative art to provoke thought on how identity is shaped and perceived. This project draws on historical and cultural shifts, particularly within Egyptian society, offering a nuanced exploration of identity in the modern age.
Samar Younes
Younes (born in Beirut) is an artist, futurist, and educator who graduated from Central Saint Martins College. She has founded SAMARITUAL, a creative studio at the crossroads of art, craft, fashion, design, and culture. With a background in architecture, scenography, and visual communication, the artist has over 20 years of experience as an art director and creative brand strategist.
In her practice, Younes blurs the lines between different aesthetic-based disciplines, exploring them through each other’s lens, craft, and method, and focuses on interconnecting themes around humanity, the planet, and technology. Her projects engage with subjects such as global south futures, healing, circular and regenerative economies, and pluriverse identities, blending high fashion with art in ways that challenge traditional aesthetics. Younes’s AI-generated works, which combine looks from the runway and her art style, offer a glimpse into alternative narratives and future possibilities.
Hadeel Mohammed
Mohammed is a digital artist, illustrator, and graphic designer from Saudi Arabia. She earned a BSc in Information Technology and Computing from the Arab Open University (AOU) in 2008. In 2016, the artist received a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport and an MS in Artificial Intelligence from the same institution in 2019.
Mohammed employs AI to create nostalgia-infused images that depict different aspects of daily life in Saudi Arabia during the 1990s. The artist begins with a memory or a song from that era and uses AI to generate artworks that reflect the ideas and emotions that these evoke. Once the initial images are generated, she edits and enhances them using various art software, adding her unique artistic touch.
According to Mohammed, she takes cues from how life was as a child living in the 90s. Her art pieces are particularly inspired by the style and elegance of Princess Deena Al-Juhani Abdulaziz, a Saudi-American businesswoman and editor.
Mujahid Jamal
Jamal is an Omani photographer residing in Muscat, whose work, influenced by Middle Eastern culture and his surroundings, merges photography, graphic design, and AI. Using his photographs as the basis for his AI imagery, Jamal creates visually striking narratives, offering a thoughtful blend of aesthetic beauty and profound conceptual depth. In 2023, he launched Sard Visuals (which loosely translates to “storytelling” in Arabic), an initiative that uses AI to capture scenes of contemporary Arab culture.
Jamal’s work navigates the boundary between reality and imagination, drawing from real-life experiences and emotional responses while exploring hypothetical situations. Through these explorations, Jamal raises questions about established perceptions and addresses universal themes, encouraging viewers to reconsider them from a fresh perspective.
You might also like our articles about three notable NFT female Arab artists. In addition, we recommend that you view MUJO, an installation by Purring Tiger.
