Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim said, "Between Sunrise and Sunset highlights the connection I have with the nature of Khor Fakkan - my hometown and the place I continue to live in. The exhibition demonstrates the tension between Khor Fakkan’s colorful bright mornings, when the sun rises over the ocean, and the disappearance of colors in mid-afternoon, when the sun drops behind the mountains that loom over my hometown. We can never see the sunset in Khor Fakkan, but we can imagine it on the other side of the UAE. I am looking forward to showing my new installation, working alongside Maya Allison and the National Pavilion UAE, to represent my country in our upcoming presentation at the Venice Biennale in 2022."

Curator Maya Allison said, "Over the years, I have closely observed Ibrahim’s work process and its intense and intimate relationship with each environment he encounters, whether that be the rocky mountainous landscape of his lifelong home, or the landscapes of his residencies in Holland, France, India, and beyond. Even after almost 4 decades of art-making, the artist continues to evolve and deepen his practice, with a stubbornly persistent exuberance, nourished by his connection to his work and his artist community. For many years he worked against the odds of location and access, and I’m gratified to see the exposure and recognition of this artist by the wider art world. This is a watershed moment for the work of the institutions that are supporting this project." Allison added, "Over the past decade, the National Pavilion of the UAE to the Venice Biennale has played a pivotal role in telling stories of the UAE’s culture and history on the global stage. During this same period, NYU Abu Dhabi’s commitment to The NYUAD Art Gallery exhibitions, publications, and curatorial fellowships have made possible our sustained study of the UAE’s art history. Today, I am grateful to both of these institutions for their partnership in support of the 2022 National Pavilion of the UAE to the Venice Biennale. Serious and important art has been made in the UAE for much longer than international art audiences may realize, and I look forward to contributing again to the development of the historical record."

Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim: Between Sunrise and Sunset marks Ibrahim and Allison’s fifth collaboration together and the third book that Allison has worked on that studies Ibrahim’s work – marking a special collaboration for them. In the first monograph on the artist, the exhibition’s accompanying publication, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim: Between Sunrise and Sunset / Works: 1986-2022, is co-edited by Maya Allison and Cristiana de Marchi, artist, curator, and poet based between Dubai and Beirut, who has a long record of work with and writing on this UAE art community. The editors have commissioned new texts that comprehensively explore Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim’s work, representing a major contribution to the UAE’s art history, documenting and archiving part of the country’s long-standing experimental art community. The book will make new material and histories available for future scholars, bringing these untold stories of the UAE into the contemporary art world narrative.