ART DUBAI 2021 -2

What caught us spot on!

A magnificent journey from being a Police Officer to an Artist. Seeking the language of Art from his own environment, Ibrahim is the first generation of Contemporary Artists from UAE. Expressing through symbolic descriptions which may seem like a language script to many is actually his unique way of depicting forms and its essence through circles and lines. He believes that in this way, the vision to interpret stays free for the viewer giving each piece its own unique identity with multiple interpretations.

Turning objects of destruction into sculptures that evoke both Western modernism and African tradition, the artist effectively strips them of their killing power. Rockets and grenades transformed into artworks as thrones and anthropomorphic masks. They are, without a doubt, an ironic way of commenting on his childhood experience of violence and absurdity and the civil war in Mozambique that isolated his country for a long period.

In his own words, “If we destroy the weapons, the same weapon’s not going to kill any more.”

Her contemporary way of using figurines to depict the psychographics of the region taking cues out of Picasso’s Cubism, is both refreshing and dream like. I personally love the way she interprets the constant flux of changes of the region and its impact.

Safwan Dahoul’s iconic portraitures of female protagonists covers the surface of a Dubai Metro carriage. As continuation of Dahoul’s monochromatic Dream series, the newly commissioned pieces see the addition of a crumpled effect that adds to an already heightening dramatic composition. Part of an initiative launched by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and the Road & Transportation Authority, the project was inaugurated in simultaneity with Art Dubai, and showcased a photographic work by HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum scaled up to one of the metro carriages.  

Abu Salemah’s use of materials and its distribution on the surface to create texture is both eclectic and whimsical with a strong reference to his childhood memories. He uses a mixture of concrete, pebbles, wires mixed with Lego blocks and drawings. His concrete artworks can be seen as miniature maps that reflect remnants of childhood memories with a bird’s eye view.

MOHAMED AREJDAL
Represented by COMPTOIR DES MINES GALERIE – MARRAKECH

An urban nomad as Arejdal calls himself; has his expressions deeply rooted into his Moroccan culture, heritage and the current state of affairs. His work represents everything that is hidden behind the beautiful façade and is the polar opposite of the images that is generally presented to the audience in the cultural milieu.

ABDOULAYE KONATE
Represented by GALLERY 1957 – ACCRA / LONDON

Textile-based installations that explore socio-political and environmental issues, as well as showcasing his aesthetic concerns and formal language. Employing material native to Mali, namely woven and dyed cloths, the artist creates large-scale abstract and figurative compositions. Konaté refers to the West-African tradition of using textiles as a means of commemoration and communication, balancing global political and social reflections with a reference to his own local and cultural history.

JAMES CLAR
Represented by SILVER LENS GALLERY- MANILA

James explores the conceptual and narrative potential of light and technology. These systems are integrated into our daily lives, altering the way we receive information and communicate.

DIA AL AZAWI
Represented by MEEM GALLERY- DUBAI

Poetry and folkloric memory drawn from ancient and contemporary Iraqi and Arab histories resonate in the artwork of internationally renowned Dia Al Azzawi woven into textile art.

FAHAD BIN NAIF
ITHRA ART PRIZE 2020

The winner of the third edition of the Ithra Art Prize is Saudi-based Fahad bin Naif, for his proposed installation Rakhm, meaning ‘incubation’ in Arabic.

Rakhm is a Polytunnel nursery that mimics the existing urban nurseries in the Kingdom with endemic plants and flowers instead of conventional foreign houseplants. Unlike most nurseries, however, the viewer can only experience the exterior of the nursery, which mirrors the general local approach to xeriscaping wherein local foliage is not an environmental or aesthetic priority. The experience of the viewer from the outside also highlights the notion that contextually there is very little interaction between local human inhabitants and local plant-life and the importance on an environmental level of changing this narrative.

ABOUT ITHRA ART PRIZE

Launched in 2017 by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) in collaboration with Art Dubai, the Prize is awarded to emerging Saudi and Saudi-based talent in contemporary art as a means to fund, promote and offer Saudi artists a global platform.

ART DUBAI IN ONE WORD – Re- imagined

Curation, Content and Written exclusively for @follwd_online by Priyanka Sarkar (CEO & Designer HOUSE OF BIORI LLC) – a Designer by heart and training, a Retailer by mind, an Omniprenuer and Creative Writer by choice.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p.sarkar