Event Type : Agenda

Known for her large scale, colorful ‘trapunto’ works, Pacita Abad (1946-2004) was a Philippine-American artist whose prolific oeuvre spanned continents and ranged from abstract forms to social realist depictions of everyday life in the U.S.A, the Philippines and elsewhere. Having lived and travelled widely across Asia and many parts of the world, Abad’s work is an amalgamation of techniques and subject matter drawn from her lived experiences and mostly worked in her signature trapunto technique of padding and stitching canvas before painting and layering it with textiles, printed objects and other materials such as jewelry, buttons, and shells.

This exhibition brings together a selection of her ‘trapunto’ paintings and is curated in collaboration with the Pacita Abad Art Estate and London based artist Pio Abad.

Born in the Philippines in 1946, Pacita Abad studied painting at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. and the Arts Student League in New York.Her work has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions including: Life in the Margins, Spike Island, Bristol (2020); Pacita Abad: A Million Things to Say, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila (2018); Circles in My Mind, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore (2003); Exploring the Spirit, National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta (1996); The American Dream, National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington D.C. (1994); Masks from Six Continents, Metro Art Center, Washington D.C. (1990); Pacita Abad: A Painter Looks at the World, Museum of Philippine Art, Manila (1984) and Assaulting the Deep Sea, Ayala Museum, Manila (1983).She has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including: Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning,13th Gwangju Biennial (2021); SWEAT, Haus der Kunst, Munich (2021); Whose Tradition?, Tate Liverpool (2021); The Crack Begins Within, 11th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art (2020); Asia/America: Identities in Contemporary Asian American Art, a travelling exhibition organised by the Asia Society, New York (1996); Beyond the Border: Art by Recent Immigrants, Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York (1994); La Segunda Bienal de la Habana (1986); and the 2nd Asian Art Show, Fukuoka Art Museum (1985).Her work can be found in the collections of Tate Modern, London; The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C., M+ Museum, Hong Kong, Art Jameel, Dubai and the National Gallery of Singapore.

She died in Singapore in 2004.

H.E. Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, inaugurated Louvre Abu Dhabi’s exhibition, Dragon and Phoenix – Centuries of Exchange between Chinese and Islamic Worlds. The exhibition opens to the public on 6 October 2021 and will run until 12 February 2022. With more than 200 artworks on display, visitors can explore the cultural and artistic exchange between the Chinese and Islamic worlds from the 8th to the 18th century. A rich cultural programme will accompany the exhibition, offering an array of events, from dragon boating to kayak cinema and family film screenings.

Organised by Louvre Abu Dhabi in partnership with Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet and France Muséums, the exhibition is curated by Sophie Makariou, President of Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, with the support of Dr. Souraya Noujaim, Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management Director, and Guilhem André, Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Chief Curator of Asian and Medieval Art.

The artworks in Dragon and Phoenix represent long-lasting dialogue between China (the dragon) and the Islamic world (the phoenix), chosen from the collections of Louvre Abu Dhabi and Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, alongside those of 12 international museums and institutions. The exhibition delves into the cultural exchange and prolific artistic production between the two worlds resulting in coveted luxury materials and artworks across a span of more than 800 years.

Manuel Rabaté, Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, said: “Through the poetic title of Dragon and Phoenix, the many interpretations of these two fantastical creatures evoke the significant artistic exchange between two great cultures. The flourishing artistic production, the exquisite objects and materials that came from these two civilisations, brought together across land and sea, is extraordinary. We cannot wait for visitors to experience this fascinating exhibition. My sincere thanks to Sophie Makariou, the Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, the Musée du Louvre, the Shanghai Museum and all our lending partners, without whom Dragon and Phoenix would not have been possible.”

Visitors will be taken on a journey organised in five chapters, through both land and sea trade routes, to explore the connections, artistic influences and remarkable untold stories, beginning from the establishment of the first Arab merchant colonies in Canton in the 8th century until the threshold of the 18th century. ‘The Islamic world’ references the regions that include countries, cultures and ethnic groups, who shared their affiliation to Islam during this period, such as the Mashriq region, Eastern Africa, Central Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and South-East Asia.

Sophie Makariou, President of Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, said: “From the 8th century up to the beginning of the 18th century, the Islamic world never ceased to regard China as an ideal of technical achievement and beauty, while the Islamic world supplied China with precious luxury objects in metal and glass. This unique exhibition deals with this long history of cultural interactions, of material and immaterial exchanges, and with peaceful relations between those two high-world cultures.”

Dr. Souraya Noujaim, Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management Director at Louvre Abu Dhabi, said: “This exhibition brings mythical creatures, dragon and phoenix among many others, on precious objects to life. Textiles, jades, lacquer, silks and ceramics circulated from the Middle Kingdom to the shores of the Mediterranean and inspired production of both cultures. The circulation of persons and manufactured goods through diplomatic, commercial and cultural exchanges is at the core of this exhibition. The five dramatic chapters reveal a story of mutual influences where external inputs and processes of transfer did not undermine the longevity of aesthetic expression, but on the contrary stimulated its creativity.”

Lending institutions for the Dragon and Phoenix exhibition include: Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, Musée du Louvre, Shanghai Museum, Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Archives nationales, Cité de la céramique – Sèvres et Limoges, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Musée de Cluny – musée national du Moyen Âge, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Musée Jacquemart-André – Institut de France, Musée national de la Renaissance – Château d’Ecouen, Muséum national d’Histoire Naturelle and Musée des Tissus de Lyon.

Cultural and Education Programming

The programming for Dragon and Phoenix is a sensory journey across the narrative of the exhibition and presents a variety of events and activities. The cultural programme will include a hand-picked selection of weekend family film screenings and kayak cinema shows, with two sessions in November and one in December. Young visitors can watch The Monkey King and an episode of The Adventures of Sinbad on November 19 and return to the museum on November 26 to watch a second installment of The Adventures of Sinbad alongside the screening of Bilal: A New Breed of Hero. The saga of Sinbad continues with a final screening on December 10 and, on the same day, children will have the opportunity to explore the world of Raya and the Last Dragon. Animated Tales of the World (shorts) will be available to watch on all the three days of the film screenings. The Adventures of Sinbad screenings will be shown as part of the kayak cinema, allowing visitors to watch the episodes while paddling around the museum.

In addition to the ongoing yoga and kayaking activities at the museum, there will also be a new seasonal offering, inspired by traditional Chinese culture – Dragon Boats from November 18 to December 31. Early next year, visitors will also be able to witness a performance piece by local artist Ahmed AlAreef whose installation responds to figures of the zodiac, as seen by both cultures.

Alongside the exhibition, a series of educational activities and programmes are available at the museum starting October. These include daily Express Tours for adults that will assist visitors to follow a journey and delve deep into the long history of cultural interactions, material and idea exchanges between the two civilisations. Students will be able to discover how cultural exchanges across communities in Asia influenced artistic production and ways of living via the Take Me to Asia interactive encounters with Museum Educators. Families can participate in the new #MakeandPlay activities inspired by the exhibition on site and those at home can follow our instructional videos online to create their very own Iznik dish. A series of Masterclasses will be offered starting from November featuring artists invited to respond to artworks within the exhibition and, later, share their skills with participants aged 18 and older in creative activities. Finally, #ARTLAB is back this winter led by UAE-based artists to encourage museum-goers to create their own art inspired by dragons and phoenixes.

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Courtesy of Louvre Abu Dhabi
Image caption: Dragon & Phoenix. © Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi

The Exhibition, The Other Side of Silence, an International Co-Production Features Major New Commissions and Significant Works from the Past 15 Years of the Artist’s Career

The first mid-career survey of work by London-based Syrian-Armenian artist Hrair Sarkissian—one of the foremost conceptual photographers of our time—opens 30 October 2021 at Sharjah Art Foundation. Taking audiences on an expansive journey through the hallowed squares of Aleppo, Latakia and Damascus, across the skies above Palmyra and over the snow-covered post-industrial landscapes of modern day Armenia, The Other Side of Silence brings together two major new commissions by the artist and more than a dozen of his most significant bodies of work from the past 15 years.

Jointly organised by Sharjah Art Foundation, Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm and the Bonnefanten, Maastricht, the exhibition is Sarkissian’s most extensive presentation to date. Having garnered initial training in his father’s photo lab, ‘Dream Colour’, in Damascus, Sarkissian went on to study visual art in the Netherlands where he continued using analogue photography as his primary medium. Captivated by the possibilities of the medium, Sarkissian seeks to make evident the invisible narratives that live behind the unresolved wounds of conflict.

The Other Side of Silence explores histories of disappearance, the architecture of violence and the potential of the medium of photography itself. Anchoring this exhibition are two major commissions: a photographic installation, Last Seen (2021), commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation and Little Apple (working title) (2021/2022), commissioned by the Bonnefanten. The exhibition features an expansive presentation of many of the artist’s major works produced since 2006, including Unfinished and In Between (both 2006), Execution Squares (2008) and Final Flight (2017–2019).

Bonniers Konsthall is producing Sarkissian’s first major monograph, edited by Kholeif and Ringborg. It will be published by Bonniers Kontshall in collaboration with Lenz Press and designed by Hans Gremmen. The book features original scholarly contributions from major figures, including Marianne Hirsch (Professor, Columbia University); Hannah Feldman (Associate Professor, Northwestern University); Todd Reisz (writer and architect); and Vali Mahlouji (curator and psychoanalyst). A major essay by Kholeif contextualises the artist’s practice alongside an exploratory text by Ringborg. The foreword is written jointly by Hoor Al Qasimi, President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, Ringborg and Huijts. The monograph will be available at the exhibition opening in Sharjah in autumn 2021.

Hrair Sarkissian: The Other Side of Silence is curated by Dr Omar Kholeif, Director of Collections and Senior Curator, Sharjah Art Foundation; Dr Theodor Ringborg, Artistic Director, Bonniers Konsthall; and Stijn Huijts, Artistic Director, the Bonnefanten. The exhibition will be on view at Sharjah Art Foundation from 30 October 2021 to 30 January 2022 and Bonniers Konsthall from 26 April to 19 June 2022 before travelling to the Bonnefanten, where it will be on view from 17 November 2022 to 14 May 2023.

The opening reception of Hrair Sarkissian: The Other Side of Silence, taking place on 30 October 2021 at 4:00 pm. The opening will be accompanied by a conversation between Hrair Sarkissian and exhibition curator Dr Omar Kholeif, Director of Collections and Senior Curator, Sharjah Art Foundation. The conversation will be followed by the signing of the artist’s first major monograph, published by Bonniers Konsthall and Lenz Press.

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Courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation

Image caption: Hrair Sarkissian, In Between, 2006. Archival inkjet print; 120 x 175 cm

Qatar Museums—Qatar’s preeminent institution for art and culture—will present a mid-career retrospective of the acclaimed American artist and designer, Virgil Abloh, at the Garage Gallery at the Fire Station. The first museum exhibition of his work to be presented in the Middle East, Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech will be on view until 31 March 2022. With more than 55 works, the exhibition will offer an in-depth look at Abloh’s diverse pioneering media practice that ranges from visual arts to music, fashion, architecture, and design. Figures of Speech is organised by Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, adapted for this presentation by Qatar Museums, and designed by and in collaboration with AMO. It is part of the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture programme, an annual international cultural exchange designed to deepen understanding between nations and their people.

Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, said: “We believe that people in Qatar and throughout the Gulf will be enthralled by this introduction to the visionary, barrier-defying work of artist and designer Virgil Abloh. We are especially thrilled that Figures of Speech will open during our week-long event Qatar Creates: Fashion and Design, which will bring together creative professionals from around the world in celebration of our local and regional talent. With both the exhibition and the event, Qatar Museums is carrying forward its commitment to nurturing artistic talent, opening career opportunities, and offering inspiration to our audiences.”

Sheikha Reem Al Thani, Acting Deputy CEO of Exhibitions & Marketing, said “We are looking forward to presenting Figures of Speech, which will trace Virgil Abloh’s inventive practice and his many achievements. This special exhibition, combined with an extensive programme of workshops and talks we have planned to complement it, is sure to inspire and engage our audiences.”

Virgil Abloh (American, b. 1980) cultivated an interest in design and music at an early age, inspired by the urban culture of Chicago. While pursuing a master’s degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology, he met American musician Kanye West and joined West’s creative team to work on album covers, concert designs, and merchandising. In 2013 Abloh founded his stand-alone fashion brand Off-White™ in Milan, Italy, and in 2018 he assumed the position of Men’s Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton.

Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech was curated by the MCA’s former James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator, Michael Darling with creative direction from Virgil Abloh, and Samir Bantal, Director of AMO (the research studio of the acclaimed architecture firm OMA). Curatorial assistance was also provided by Chanon Kenji Praepipatmongkol, Marjorie Susman Curatorial Fellow at the MCA Chicago. This exhibition has been on view at the MCA Chicago (10 June – 29 September 2019), the High Museum of Art Atlanta (12 Nov 2019 – 8 Mar 2020) and is currently on view at the ICA Boston (through 26 September 2021).

Michael Darling stated, “The exhibition has been laid out and designed to be in dialogue with the dynamic spaces of the Fire Station. As a result, there are new resonances between artworks and visitors will see a refreshed and renewed exhibition.”

Through Abloh’s own work and many collaborations, Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech shows the complex universe of fashion, music, art and design he moves in, demonstrating his ability to fluently speak the language of each discipline. Transcending the idea of a discipline, Abloh’s work, since the initial show in Chicago, has grown to a continuous broadcast of creativity. The exhibition is designed to provide an overview of the disciplines, pivotal moments, and statements of one of the most important contemporary cultural phenomenons. The Fire Station provides a unique setting for the exhibition. Two large gallery spaces give the visitors the immersive experience to feel the variety of works, while the more intimate gallery 3 puts emphasis on the theme of race in Black Gaze. The outdoor courtyard connects all galleries and places some of Abloh’s works where they belong, in the city. The Doha edition of Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech contains the Inflatable Bouncy Castle as well as the never before exhibited Customized Mercedes G-Wagon. The exhibition design also repurposes a number of elements from Qatar Museums’ previous exhibitions, such as the LED ticker signs and steel grates minimizing waste.

As a continuation of the works in the galleries, a concept store uses one of Fire Station’s warehouse spaces as the ideal setting to browse the exhibition merchandise. The concept store features a retrospective of best-selling Off-White™ products and exclusive new collections inspired by the exhibition. The products are available in-store, on-site only.

Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech is sponsored by ExxonMobil, Qatar Airways, Astro Automotive Services, Mazaya Real Estate Development Company and Qatar-USA Year of Culture.

The exhibition is presented as part of the Qatar-United States 2021 Year of Culture, sponsored by ExxonMobil, which was formalized in September 2020 with a cooperative agreement between the State of Qatar and the United States of America during the 2020 Qatar-United States Strategic Dialogue in Washington, D.C.

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Courtesy of Qatar Museums

Image caption: Installation view, Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech”, MCA Chicago. June – September, 2019. Work shown: Virgil Abloh, A Series of Events, 2019. Ceramics. Private Collection. Photo: Nathan Keay, ©MCA Chicago. Courtesy of The Gymnastics Art Institute & Virgil Abloh Art Studio and Design Practice. ©️ 2021.

This three-month exhibition marks Abla’s fifth solo show with Tabari Artspace. Channelling Abla’s unique optimism the aim of this presentation is to capture imaginations and unite generations through the artist’s mesmeric world.

The body of work comprises a selection of mixed media collages, in varying scale, that orbit around the spirit and healing properties of plant life, particularly the cactus. Abla dislodges the cactus from its geographic fixtures and unleashes it into new otherworldly realms. For Abla the cactus is both a source of healing energy and a mythical entity, it spirals out from the desert, breaking away from traditional colour codes and structures into surreal and unexpected settings. In Earthly Treasures, the cactus, morphing into fluid forms, glows against the night sky and appears from the bottom of the ocean ushering into question: “What planet are we on?”

While desert and the sandstone dominate the palette of much of the built and lived environment in the MENA region Abla, who is known for his joyful and vibrant compositions has fuelled the cactus with a powerful psychedelic palette and rich textures in order to transcend it into a higher frequency. He has reimagined the prickly exterior of the cactus, instead packing it with bountiful pink blooms and stars shooting into the stratosphere. Through his manipulations, he transcends these plants into a state of higher consciousness where they become soulful beings that dance, move and interact with one another.

While travelling the Silk Road route to draw inspiration for a previous body of work, The Silk Road series (2017) Abla encountered an ancient marbling technique in Turkey, erbu marbling, which he subsequently absorbed into his practice. Uniting his appreciation for ancient cultural practices and the contemporary, in several pieces Abla has charged layers of silk paper with this historic approach to marbling which are then reconfigured through his personal approach to collage and combined with slices of colour in oil paint and acrylic.

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Image caption: Mohamed Abla, Earthly Treasures 2, 2021. Collage and Mixed Media on Canvas, 120 x 140 cm. Copyright The Artist.

Courtesy of Tabari Artspace

Run With The Wolves – an exhibition featuring five contemporary women artists – explores mythology, identity, gender and sexuality through figuration as the central motif. The show takes its title from the book Women who Run with the Wolves – Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. A Jungian analyst and storyteller, Estés uses multicultural myths and fairy tales as ‘psychic archaeological digs’ to access what she refers to as the ruins of the female unconscious. The exhibition reflects on how five women artists access their own memory and experiences – conscious and subconscious – to express the contemporary experience.

Natalia Gonzalez Martin works on a small scale, using traditional painting techniques that draw their influence from Christian religious iconography and medieval illuminated manuscripts, informed by her Spanish customs and heritage. Predominantly working with the female figure, she uses minutely detailed brushstrokes to paint intimate corners of the female body – the curves of the neck, the ear, the toes – creating an erotic tension between desire and the forbidden.

Shailee Mehta works extensively with elements of figuration and embodiment, situating the female body as a central agential subject in her explorations around femininity and visibility. Her work is descriptive of a poetics of space where elements of the interior and the exterior blend into each other, giving her protagonists an unsettling ‘untamed’ appearance. Rooted in the female gaze, her figures subvert patriarchal tropes, and the narratives of looking and being looked at take up multiple meanings such as desire, contemplation or rejection.

Sola Olulode’s paintings are nuanced and tender visions of intimacy and community; her wistful images celebrations of Black identity, womxnhood and non-binary people. Distinguished by their use of gestural brushwork, indigo dye, wax, oil bar, impasto and monochromatic schemes, they speak strongly of her Nigerian heritage. Allowing the body to take centre stage, she creates utopian scenes which give prominence to movement, gesture, and romanticised acts; her works exposing a unique tenderness and a fluid ability of bringing to life representation and visibility of Black Queer lived experiences.

Wawi Navarroza works in photography and employs her own figure to create formal staged compositions in large tableau vivant format. In her Tropical Gothic series she reconstructs and rediscovers herself amongst layers of disparate objects rendered in eccentric and vibrant colours. Following in the tradition of other female artists (Frida Kahlo, Mickalene Thomas and Cindy Sherman) who use history, appropriation, and citation as a form of cultural critique, these self-portraits reference a shared condition among women across time and space, history and geography.

Saelia Aparicio’s practice finds inspiration from classical mythology and transformative hybrid forms between animals and humans, such as the sphinx, Anubis or the Mayan Camazotz. Her wall tapestries – a collaboration with fashion designer Craig Green – feature a series of folk-inspired portraits that deliver an expressive take on the human form. Completely imagined and very specific in their gender fluidity, they draw from the ‘two-spirited’ idea that comes from Indigenous North American culture. From conceptual nature-inspired motifs like parts of walnut trees and poison ivy, the hand-stitched artworks showcase an imaginative mashup of ancient anatomical diagrams and contemporary art.

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Image caption: Wawi Navarroza, May in Manila/Hot Summer, 2019. Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle, cold-mounted on acid-free aluminum, 135.38 × 101.6 cm. Edition of 5 plus 2 AP

Courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi

 

After the success of the first edition last year, Zawyeh Gallery launches 6 December 2021 the second edition of Ramallah Art Fair. This year the show is organised with wider participation amongst artists. The art fair includes over 150 artworks; some were created recently or produced specifically for the fair by over 30 Palestinian artists living in Palestine and the diaspora in addition to artists from the occupied Syrian Golan, an artist from Lebanon, and a Turkish artist. The artworks deal with different topics; some are stemmed from the Palestinian reality using a wide range of materials. One of the main features that the fair maintains this year is exhibiting the works of young artists, side by side works for prominent artists.

Ziad Anani, Zawyeh Gallery director, stated: “The main goal of the event is to provide original artworks at reasonable prices for new collectors to enjoy Palestinian art.” He added that the art fair is a rare opportunity that gives glimpses on the new art production mainly in Palestine and allows the audience to read into the new artistic paths and directions that new and prominent artists are embarking on these days.

Participating artists are Sliman Mansour, Nabil Anani, Abed Abdi, Khaled Hourani, Shada Safadi, Tayseer Barakat, Fouad Agbaria, Bashar Alhroub, Yazan Abu Salameh, Ibrahim Mozain, Shafik Radwan, Mahdi Baraghithi, Vera Tamari, Ahed Izhiman, Ahmad Canaan, Akram Al-Halabi, Alaa Attoun, Alaa Albaba, Asad Azi, Ayman Essa, Benji Boyadgian, Dima Hourani, Easam Darawshi, Mohamed Abusal, Nidal Morra, Reem Masri, Ruba Salameh, Saher Nassar, Taqi Spateen, Ikram Awidat, Rafat Asad, in addition to Stephanie Bou Chedid (Lebanon) and Cem Polat (Turkey).

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Image caption: Alaa Attoun, Scene III, 2021. Photography on fine art paper, 48 x 34 cm. Edition of 10
Courtesy of Zawyeh Gallery

Andakulova Gallery is delighted to present the artworks of Timur D’Vatz in its gallery spaces for its latest exhibition. The inaugural of the Russian-born Uzbekistaneducated artist’s works will be held on December 1, 2021 and the exhibition will continue till March 1, 2022.

Timur D’Vatz is an artist bestowed with unique talent and knowledge. He is inspired by ancient history, medieval tapestries and Celtic mythology. His paintings also reflect a fascination with alchemy and the ideals of Pre-Raphaelites.

This year, he won the Grand Prix at the NordArt exhibition. Based in Germany, NordArt has established itself as one of the largest exhibitions of contemporary art in Europe, representing all facets of visual arts. D’Vatz has won several other awards, including the Guinness prize for First Time Exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, the A. T. Kearney Prize, and the B.P Portrait award at London’s National Portrait Gallery 2002.

D’Vatz has won several other awards, including the Guinness prize for First Time Exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, the A. T. Kearney Prize, and the B.P Portrait award at London’s National Portrait Gallery 2002.

Noble deer, elegant horses, energetic hounds and speedy birds of prey, are frequent images in his artworks. They are considered majestic symbols of freedom, power and beauty.
Legends and symbols of early Byzantine art, medieval tapestries and stories of King Arthur, come to life in D’Vatz’s artworks.
At an early stage of his life, he was influenced by Russian icon painting; he expressed the spiritual images of saints and Apostles. Their serene faces and refined hands are preserved in his works as a distinctive feature.

Each figure displayed in Timur’s paintings is symbolic. If the mission of Art is to transfer inner meaning, the light of the plot, comprehended through contemplation and if a painting is not just a design spot on wall, but rather a means of contact with another space, then the artist involves the viewer in the world he has created, with special energy and a certain aura.

Timur D’Vatz was born in 1986 in Moscow. In 1983, he attended Art College in Tashkent. It was a beautiful complex of old buildings with a few enclosed courtyards shaded by tall trees and refreshed by fountains.

There was the ambience of an inspiring little oasis in the middle of the big and busy city. It was wonderful to be painting in the atmospheric art studios. Lunch breaks would be just across the street, in a little café situated above the Anhor River. Traditional food such as pilaf, lagman and nan bread, were accompanied by the music of a mountain river, as artists talked about their current art projects and dreams about the future.

Timur D’Vatz’s journey continued when he moved to Moscow in 1990, where he started to exhibit. He was a regular visitor to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, where he was drawn to works of antiquity. Timur also did extensive research on the human body in the museum library.

Five years later, he moved to London, where his education continued at the Royal Academy of Arts School. He was the recipient of the Sir James Walker and Jack Goldhill Scholarships and while studying, began exhibiting in several art galleries. He actively participated in the London art world.

He was commissioned by the church for an altarpiece painting in Notre Dame de France Catholic Church in London and also won a commission to paint two paintings in the Four Seasons hotel Moscow as well.

His artworks are collected by King of Bahrain and British Royal families. Timur D’Vatz’s artworks are displayed in the magnificent Coutances Cathedral, which is a Gothic Roman Catholic cathedral constructed from 1210 to 1274 in the town of Coutances, Normandy, France.
The artist explores pictorial space with his stylishly constructed mis-en-scenes. The art offers a modern day take on ancient legends and re-appropriated symbols sourced from early Byzantine art and medieval tapestries.

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Timur D’Vatz’s works is the way in which his art is inextricably linked to the world of textiles: he excels at depicting the rich fabrics of Chinese silk printing and is influenced by intricate patterns of the Nabis School.

The School consisted of a group of young French artists active in Paris from 1888 until 1900, who played a large part in the transition from impressionism and academic art to abstract art, symbolism and the other early movements of modernism.

D’Vatz’s shapes and patterns take on a life of their own, giving to the composition a lyrical harmony. The painter alleviates any possibility of visual heaviness or monotony by leaving elegant and refined forms to serve and to complicate the pictorial space.

The splashes of Baroque colour and elongated body shapes create a surface pattern, which communicates the decorative and abstract qualities of his compositions.

The insistent flatness of the image, moreover, renders the elongated figures of his protagonists, the hounds and the falcons, inseparable from their environment: they seem not so much to inhabit the space, as to merge with it.

Timur D’Vatz spends time between his studios in Normandy and London.

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Image Caption: Timur D’Vatz, Falconers, 2021. Oil on Canvas, 81 x 122 cm.

Courtesy of Andakulova Gallery

“For me it has always been a city of ruins and of end-of-empire melancholy. I’ve spent my life either battling with this melancholy or (like all Istanbulus) making it my own.”

-Orhan Pamuk, Istanbul: Memories and the City

I will build a boat

I will keep sailing

I will keep sailing

Beyond the seas there IS a town

Where windows are open to epiphanies

The rooftops are inhabited by pigeons

Gazing at the fountains of Human Intelligence

Every ten-year-old child holds a bough of knowledge

The townsfolk see in a brick row a flame,

Or a delicate dream;

Dust can hear the music of your feelings

The fluttering wings of mythical birds are audible in the wind

Beyond the seas there is a town

Where the Sun is as wide-open as the eyes of early-risers

Poets are the inheritors of water, wisdom, and light

Beyond the seas there is a town,

So one should build a boat.

-Sohrab Sepehri

“A destruction, an annihilation that only man can provoke, only man can prevent.”

-Elie Wiesel

You walk down alleyways and dead-ends. You circle the squares and roundabouts of your memory. You recognize the feel of the summer heat on your skin. That is yours for ever. Passing by an open window, you know the smell of the mid day meal cooking on a stove. You are sure the fried onions would have a sweet taste on your tongue if you were called in to share the repast. You should be in sync with the city’s pulse, this beating heart that you sense against the soul of your shoes.

And yet.

And yet you see it cracking, crumbling, crashing. For years now, for a long time. It is soundless, slow, steady. You are walking down narrow lanes, tree lined avenues and around street corners, all renamed reshaped. Where there was a door there is gaping hole. Where there were windows, blind darkness within an empty frame. A three legged chair abandoned to its fate, a stuffed bear for the alley cats. Cities no longer in control of their past or their destiny, abandoned to the pillage of the greedy, of the small limited minds.

You walk down narrow lanes and pass by filigreed garden gates. You look for stories, memories contained within the walled ruins that were home to all that. And so much more than that. The heart and soul of the city.

And yet.

You find a city without borders a city with no past, no future. And you remember having read this:

“If I see my city as beautiful and bewitching, then my life must be so too.”

-Orhan Pamuk, Istanbul: memories and the city

-Parinaz Eleish Gharagozlou

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Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery

Image caption: Parinaz Eleish Gharagozlou, Seven Pillars of Wisdom (Amnesia Series), 2020. Acrylic paint, oil paint, oil pen, pencil, paper, collage on canvas, 183.51 x 239.08 cm

Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art is excited to announce the solo exhibition “Alexandria Blues” by the artist Amre Heiba.

Under the evocative title “Alexandria Blues” Amre Heiba presents his new exhibition including around 40 medium and small size pieces. Closely related to the rarefied atmosphere of the previous work, the paintings created during the 3 last years show a series of almost empty spaces where the human presence is a distant memory or something that didn’t happen yet. Common objects, abandoned and useless like the broken dollies or enigmatic like the red triangles, are the only inhabitants of these anonymous rooms – maybe the same infinitely repeated room playing the role of an interior landscape – becoming the metaphor of our more and more precarious existence in this world.

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Courtesy of Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art

Staying with the Trouble—Reading the Present through the Past and the Future

“We […] live in disturbing times, mixed-up times, troubling and turbid times. The task is to become capable, with each other in all of our bumptious kinds, of response. […] Our task is to make trouble, to stir up potent response to devastating events, as well as to settle troubled waters and rebuild quiet places. In urgent times, many of us are tempted to address trouble in terms of making an imagined future safe, of stopping something from happening that looms in the future, of clearing away the present and the past in order to make futures for coming generations. Staying with the trouble does not require such a relationship to times called the future. In fact, staying with the trouble requires learning to be truly present […].”

In Staying with the Trouble, theoretician Donna J. Haraway imagines a world in which we live together with various planetary organisms in a sustainable way. She does not put humans at the core of her thinking but coexistence with other species and creatures. The eponymous group exhibition deals with the Chthulucene, an age established by Haraway, in which the human and the inhuman are inextricably linked: “Chthonic ones are beings of the earth, both ancient and up-to-the-minute.” A theoretical structure that allows for reflection on our present oscillating between utopia and dystopia, reality and fantasy, this is an attempt to read the present through the past and future and to have them enter into a dialogue with each other.

“Our task is to make trouble”

2019 marked the thirtieth anniversary of the world wide web. A technological revolution that has become indispensable in our daily lives—and yet we are already envisioning a reboot. Social networks dictate our life. “Fake news” and populist systems are gaining the upper hand. Yet, none of this is new. Let’s remember how drastically the first industrial revolution in the second half of the eighteenth century changed our economic and social system, as did the transition from monarchies to democracies. A look into the past teaches us that change seems to be the only constant in our society. All the more important, then, is a critical examination of artistic positions that enable us to change our course, develop new ways of thinking, and look inconvenient realities straight in the eye.

The works created specifically for this exhibition by three Austrian-born or Austrian-based artists, Monika Grabuschnigg, James Lewis, and Laurence Sturla, share the use of “traditional”-looking materials like clay and concrete, while their unusual, almost uncanny styles harbor a common interest in science fiction. This is also reflected in the technoid soundscape pervading the Carbon 12 exhibition space. James Lewis culled twelve hours’ worth of crackles, beeps, and buzzes from an open-source archive. This sonic environment turns out to be an arrangement of various water noises: human-made on the one hand, as in the case of a sewage system or a flushing toilet, and natural on the other, as in the case of a burbling stream. The sound can be traced back to three manhole covers cast from aluminum that are tagged with almost unpronounceable numbers of seconds, which correspond to the average duration of various everyday activities, and which are surrounded by an architectural structure. Lewis’s installation addresses not only the ambivalent relationship of two clashing realities—culture vs. nature—but also the confrontation of individual and communal interests. The sound emanating from the depths of the space symbolizes a kind of invisible danger that raises the question of whether such noises will soon be a thing of the past, or whether surmounting individual needs might still lead to change for the sake of the common good.

Whereas Lewis’s structure calls an existing system into question, Sturla toys with the idea of a contaminated history and the relics of a no-longer-extant industrialized world. In their mode of production, the ceramic sculptures tie in with historical boatbuilding techniques and heating constructions. They evoke ruinous fragments visualizing a bygone time in their overfired, scorched surfaces covered in cracks and residual salt lines: origin and function uncertain. Sturla dares to attempt to recall a forgotten age with all its tried-and-true techniques and formal repertoires while at the same time directing our attention to an elusive future. Not least, he demonstrates this in the deliberately chosen contrast between handmade ceramics on the one hand and an appearance reminiscent of industrial engineering on the other.

Utopia and dystopia are also close neighbors in Monika Grabuschnigg’s work. The historically fraught symbol of the Atropa belladonna —better known as deadly nightshade—runs like a thread through her new work group. Originally, the plant, which bears black cherry- like fruit, was associated with a feminine beauty ideal, as the sap had a pupil-dilating effect—an aesthetic kinship that is reflected in the plump, oversize form of the bouquets modeled from clay. In her works, Grabuschnigg plays with the ambivalent appearance of nature, which may generate both pleasure and unease in us humans. This is also evident in the deliberately ambiguous choice of subject matter: While belladonna was initially known as a medicinal and magical plant with aphrodisiac effects, it turned out to be deadly in higher doses. Nature presents itself not only as a “victim” of human endeavors but also as an autonomous trigger of uncertainty and danger. The bouquets in their fiery-red, lasciviously rose-gold form are equally attractive and uncanny, harmonious and melancholy.

In this world split by contradictions, Haraway’s wish “to be truly present” requires not only breaking with common patterns of thought but especially not viewing dichotomies like fantasy and reality, utopia and dystopia, nature and culture as separate from each other and instead—as Lewis, Sturla, and Grabuschnigg demonstrate—allowing them to blend with each other.

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Courtesy of Carbon 12

Image: Work by Laurence Sturla

Ayyam Gallery is pleased to present to (t)irony the first solo exhibition featuring Sharjah-based Iraqi sculptor Muatasim Alkubaisy’s work.

(t)irony features Alkubaisy’s largest body of work yet, composed of a selection of figures, portraying those that have been ruined by power. These non-deserving and corrupt characters utilise their positions to suffocate and belittle the common man. The artist transforms misery and discrimination into sophisticated and intricate characters through a delicate yet deliberate touch. He magnifies and exaggerates traits creating caricatural portraits, presenting a sarcastic consciousness, and exposing the arrogance of their behaviors and practices.

The figures are merely cartoon characters with puffed bellies and swollen jugular veins. Concealed by dress, their physical deformities, malignancy, and evil schemes still show through the bronze’s smooth surfaces. The intimidation, evil, and terror are deprecated into mockery, becoming objects.

The characters are situated in different environments, positioned with different stances, alone or in groups. Some read a paper or are on the toilet, trivialising and making them more humane, more attainable. Embedded, are tokens of symbolism, the rats representing vermin qualities such as filth, cruelty, and disease.

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Courtesy of Ayyam Gallery

Image caption: Muatasim Alkubaisy, Untitled, 2020, Bronze, Edition of 8, 23 x 40 x 21 cm

Curated by Founder and Director of Tashkeel, Sheikha Lateefa bint Maktoum and veteran Emirati photographer Jassim Al Awadhi, the exhibition features a series of thought-provoking images that demonstrate the ever-evolving process of art and creation by six Emirati photographers: Ola Allouz, Yagoub Al Hammadi, Mousa Al Raeesi, Faisal Al Rais, Mona Al Tamimi and Maitha Bughanoum.

From End to End prompts the viewer to question mankind’s synergy with the natural world. With selected works depicting intimate aspects of human existence spanning vast geographical distances from the streets of Satwa to the remote mangroves of Al Dhafra and the bustling coastlines of Zanzibar, the subtle details of each work highlight man’s unrelenting disruption of the environment around him: The microparticles of plastics worn by fisherwomen drifting into the seas; the remnants of fishing nets deposited in the seas of the Arabian Gulf; the dredged tidal flats off the shore of Abu Dhabi; and the plastic waste generated from communal feasts. While in an untouched area of Dubai nests an owl and her chicks. As their existence and that of their species hangs in the balance, the images stand as a bold reminder of the fragility of the natural world and the need for mankind to step up and fulfill its unequivocal moral duty to protect and preserve it for all time.

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Courtesy of Tashkeel Studio

Image caption: Mousa Al Raeesi, The Big Tree, 2020

Hady Boraey is an independent visual artist as well as a lecturer for the Fine Arts department at Alexandria University. Boraey has amassed a world of artistic knowledge in the past 20 years as he experimented with painting, drawing and sculpture. Despite his affinity for experimentation, Boraey consistently seeks to take his viewers on a journey, opening the mind to new perspectives and blurring the lines between physical and psychological.

His latest exhibition, Eden Dance is born from the pandemic and a desire to reconnect with nature. In classic Boraey fashion, the collection depicts a rich and textured fantasy world. Stoic figures feature center-stage in almost every artwork. Sharp-edged facial features are made sharper by their geometric figures — a stark contrast to the muted backdrops that lay behind them. Cacti, leaves, and budding plants, not surprisingly, are present in many of the pieces as well, denoting the obvious desire to rejoin not only nature, but the outdoor world beyond the confines and isolation of lockdown.

The sun, stars, and birds make an appearance in a few of the paintings, breathing life into the collection and suggesting the figures are, in fact, outside. In some pieces, the figures look up longingly to the starry or sunny sky, in others, they dance in an almost spiritual appreciation of the great outdoors. And in yet others, they simply appear at peace.

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Courtesy of Fann Á Porter

Image caption: Hady Boraey, The Bliss Dance, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Known for her large scale, colorful ‘trapunto’ works, Pacita Abad (1946-2004) was a Philippine-American artist whose prolific oeuvre spanned continents and ranged from abstract forms to social realist depictions of everyday life in the U.S.A, the Philippines and elsewhere. Having lived and travelled widely across Asia and many parts of the world, Abad’s work is an amalgamation of techniques and subject matter drawn from her lived experiences and mostly worked in her signature trapunto technique of padding and stitching canvas before painting and layering it with textiles, printed objects and other materials such as jewelry, buttons, and shells.

This exhibition brings together a selection of her ‘trapunto’ paintings and is curated in collaboration with the Pacita Abad Art Estate and London based artist Pio Abad.

Born in the Philippines in 1946, Pacita Abad studied painting at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. and the Arts Student League in New York.Her work has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions including: Life in the Margins, Spike Island, Bristol (2020); Pacita Abad: A Million Things to Say, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila (2018); Circles in My Mind, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore (2003); Exploring the Spirit, National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta (1996); The American Dream, National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington D.C. (1994); Masks from Six Continents, Metro Art Center, Washington D.C. (1990); Pacita Abad: A Painter Looks at the World, Museum of Philippine Art, Manila (1984) and Assaulting the Deep Sea, Ayala Museum, Manila (1983).She has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including: Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning,13th Gwangju Biennial (2021); SWEAT, Haus der Kunst, Munich (2021); Whose Tradition?, Tate Liverpool (2021); The Crack Begins Within, 11th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art (2020); Asia/America: Identities in Contemporary Asian American Art, a travelling exhibition organised by the Asia Society, New York (1996); Beyond the Border: Art by Recent Immigrants, Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York (1994); La Segunda Bienal de la Habana (1986); and the 2nd Asian Art Show, Fukuoka Art Museum (1985).Her work can be found in the collections of Tate Modern, London; The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C., M+ Museum, Hong Kong, Art Jameel, Dubai and the National Gallery of Singapore.

She died in Singapore in 2004.

H.E. Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, inaugurated Louvre Abu Dhabi’s exhibition, Dragon and Phoenix – Centuries of Exchange between Chinese and Islamic Worlds. The exhibition opens to the public on 6 October 2021 and will run until 12 February 2022. With more than 200 artworks on display, visitors can explore the cultural and artistic exchange between the Chinese and Islamic worlds from the 8th to the 18th century. A rich cultural programme will accompany the exhibition, offering an array of events, from dragon boating to kayak cinema and family film screenings.

Organised by Louvre Abu Dhabi in partnership with Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet and France Muséums, the exhibition is curated by Sophie Makariou, President of Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, with the support of Dr. Souraya Noujaim, Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management Director, and Guilhem André, Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Chief Curator of Asian and Medieval Art.

The artworks in Dragon and Phoenix represent long-lasting dialogue between China (the dragon) and the Islamic world (the phoenix), chosen from the collections of Louvre Abu Dhabi and Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, alongside those of 12 international museums and institutions. The exhibition delves into the cultural exchange and prolific artistic production between the two worlds resulting in coveted luxury materials and artworks across a span of more than 800 years.

Manuel Rabaté, Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, said: “Through the poetic title of Dragon and Phoenix, the many interpretations of these two fantastical creatures evoke the significant artistic exchange between two great cultures. The flourishing artistic production, the exquisite objects and materials that came from these two civilisations, brought together across land and sea, is extraordinary. We cannot wait for visitors to experience this fascinating exhibition. My sincere thanks to Sophie Makariou, the Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, the Musée du Louvre, the Shanghai Museum and all our lending partners, without whom Dragon and Phoenix would not have been possible.”

Visitors will be taken on a journey organised in five chapters, through both land and sea trade routes, to explore the connections, artistic influences and remarkable untold stories, beginning from the establishment of the first Arab merchant colonies in Canton in the 8th century until the threshold of the 18th century. ‘The Islamic world’ references the regions that include countries, cultures and ethnic groups, who shared their affiliation to Islam during this period, such as the Mashriq region, Eastern Africa, Central Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and South-East Asia.

Sophie Makariou, President of Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, said: “From the 8th century up to the beginning of the 18th century, the Islamic world never ceased to regard China as an ideal of technical achievement and beauty, while the Islamic world supplied China with precious luxury objects in metal and glass. This unique exhibition deals with this long history of cultural interactions, of material and immaterial exchanges, and with peaceful relations between those two high-world cultures.”

Dr. Souraya Noujaim, Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management Director at Louvre Abu Dhabi, said: “This exhibition brings mythical creatures, dragon and phoenix among many others, on precious objects to life. Textiles, jades, lacquer, silks and ceramics circulated from the Middle Kingdom to the shores of the Mediterranean and inspired production of both cultures. The circulation of persons and manufactured goods through diplomatic, commercial and cultural exchanges is at the core of this exhibition. The five dramatic chapters reveal a story of mutual influences where external inputs and processes of transfer did not undermine the longevity of aesthetic expression, but on the contrary stimulated its creativity.”

Lending institutions for the Dragon and Phoenix exhibition include: Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, Musée du Louvre, Shanghai Museum, Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Archives nationales, Cité de la céramique – Sèvres et Limoges, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Musée de Cluny – musée national du Moyen Âge, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Musée Jacquemart-André – Institut de France, Musée national de la Renaissance – Château d’Ecouen, Muséum national d’Histoire Naturelle and Musée des Tissus de Lyon.

Cultural and Education Programming

The programming for Dragon and Phoenix is a sensory journey across the narrative of the exhibition and presents a variety of events and activities. The cultural programme will include a hand-picked selection of weekend family film screenings and kayak cinema shows, with two sessions in November and one in December. Young visitors can watch The Monkey King and an episode of The Adventures of Sinbad on November 19 and return to the museum on November 26 to watch a second installment of The Adventures of Sinbad alongside the screening of Bilal: A New Breed of Hero. The saga of Sinbad continues with a final screening on December 10 and, on the same day, children will have the opportunity to explore the world of Raya and the Last Dragon. Animated Tales of the World (shorts) will be available to watch on all the three days of the film screenings. The Adventures of Sinbad screenings will be shown as part of the kayak cinema, allowing visitors to watch the episodes while paddling around the museum.

In addition to the ongoing yoga and kayaking activities at the museum, there will also be a new seasonal offering, inspired by traditional Chinese culture – Dragon Boats from November 18 to December 31. Early next year, visitors will also be able to witness a performance piece by local artist Ahmed AlAreef whose installation responds to figures of the zodiac, as seen by both cultures.

Alongside the exhibition, a series of educational activities and programmes are available at the museum starting October. These include daily Express Tours for adults that will assist visitors to follow a journey and delve deep into the long history of cultural interactions, material and idea exchanges between the two civilisations. Students will be able to discover how cultural exchanges across communities in Asia influenced artistic production and ways of living via the Take Me to Asia interactive encounters with Museum Educators. Families can participate in the new #MakeandPlay activities inspired by the exhibition on site and those at home can follow our instructional videos online to create their very own Iznik dish. A series of Masterclasses will be offered starting from November featuring artists invited to respond to artworks within the exhibition and, later, share their skills with participants aged 18 and older in creative activities. Finally, #ARTLAB is back this winter led by UAE-based artists to encourage museum-goers to create their own art inspired by dragons and phoenixes.

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Courtesy of Louvre Abu Dhabi
Image caption: Dragon & Phoenix. © Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi

Qatar Museums—Qatar’s preeminent institution for art and culture—will present a mid-career retrospective of the acclaimed American artist and designer, Virgil Abloh, at the Garage Gallery at the Fire Station. The first museum exhibition of his work to be presented in the Middle East, Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech will be on view until 31 March 2022. With more than 55 works, the exhibition will offer an in-depth look at Abloh’s diverse pioneering media practice that ranges from visual arts to music, fashion, architecture, and design. Figures of Speech is organised by Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, adapted for this presentation by Qatar Museums, and designed by and in collaboration with AMO. It is part of the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture programme, an annual international cultural exchange designed to deepen understanding between nations and their people.

Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, said: “We believe that people in Qatar and throughout the Gulf will be enthralled by this introduction to the visionary, barrier-defying work of artist and designer Virgil Abloh. We are especially thrilled that Figures of Speech will open during our week-long event Qatar Creates: Fashion and Design, which will bring together creative professionals from around the world in celebration of our local and regional talent. With both the exhibition and the event, Qatar Museums is carrying forward its commitment to nurturing artistic talent, opening career opportunities, and offering inspiration to our audiences.”

Sheikha Reem Al Thani, Acting Deputy CEO of Exhibitions & Marketing, said “We are looking forward to presenting Figures of Speech, which will trace Virgil Abloh’s inventive practice and his many achievements. This special exhibition, combined with an extensive programme of workshops and talks we have planned to complement it, is sure to inspire and engage our audiences.”

Virgil Abloh (American, b. 1980) cultivated an interest in design and music at an early age, inspired by the urban culture of Chicago. While pursuing a master’s degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology, he met American musician Kanye West and joined West’s creative team to work on album covers, concert designs, and merchandising. In 2013 Abloh founded his stand-alone fashion brand Off-White™ in Milan, Italy, and in 2018 he assumed the position of Men’s Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton.

Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech was curated by the MCA’s former James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator, Michael Darling with creative direction from Virgil Abloh, and Samir Bantal, Director of AMO (the research studio of the acclaimed architecture firm OMA). Curatorial assistance was also provided by Chanon Kenji Praepipatmongkol, Marjorie Susman Curatorial Fellow at the MCA Chicago. This exhibition has been on view at the MCA Chicago (10 June – 29 September 2019), the High Museum of Art Atlanta (12 Nov 2019 – 8 Mar 2020) and is currently on view at the ICA Boston (through 26 September 2021).

Michael Darling stated, “The exhibition has been laid out and designed to be in dialogue with the dynamic spaces of the Fire Station. As a result, there are new resonances between artworks and visitors will see a refreshed and renewed exhibition.”

Through Abloh’s own work and many collaborations, Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech shows the complex universe of fashion, music, art and design he moves in, demonstrating his ability to fluently speak the language of each discipline. Transcending the idea of a discipline, Abloh’s work, since the initial show in Chicago, has grown to a continuous broadcast of creativity. The exhibition is designed to provide an overview of the disciplines, pivotal moments, and statements of one of the most important contemporary cultural phenomenons. The Fire Station provides a unique setting for the exhibition. Two large gallery spaces give the visitors the immersive experience to feel the variety of works, while the more intimate gallery 3 puts emphasis on the theme of race in Black Gaze. The outdoor courtyard connects all galleries and places some of Abloh’s works where they belong, in the city. The Doha edition of Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech contains the Inflatable Bouncy Castle as well as the never before exhibited Customized Mercedes G-Wagon. The exhibition design also repurposes a number of elements from Qatar Museums’ previous exhibitions, such as the LED ticker signs and steel grates minimizing waste.

As a continuation of the works in the galleries, a concept store uses one of Fire Station’s warehouse spaces as the ideal setting to browse the exhibition merchandise. The concept store features a retrospective of best-selling Off-White™ products and exclusive new collections inspired by the exhibition. The products are available in-store, on-site only.

Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech is sponsored by ExxonMobil, Qatar Airways, Astro Automotive Services, Mazaya Real Estate Development Company and Qatar-USA Year of Culture.

The exhibition is presented as part of the Qatar-United States 2021 Year of Culture, sponsored by ExxonMobil, which was formalized in September 2020 with a cooperative agreement between the State of Qatar and the United States of America during the 2020 Qatar-United States Strategic Dialogue in Washington, D.C.

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Courtesy of Qatar Museums

Image caption: Installation view, Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech”, MCA Chicago. June – September, 2019. Work shown: Virgil Abloh, A Series of Events, 2019. Ceramics. Private Collection. Photo: Nathan Keay, ©MCA Chicago. Courtesy of The Gymnastics Art Institute & Virgil Abloh Art Studio and Design Practice. ©️ 2021.

Run With The Wolves – an exhibition featuring five contemporary women artists – explores mythology, identity, gender and sexuality through figuration as the central motif. The show takes its title from the book Women who Run with the Wolves – Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. A Jungian analyst and storyteller, Estés uses multicultural myths and fairy tales as ‘psychic archaeological digs’ to access what she refers to as the ruins of the female unconscious. The exhibition reflects on how five women artists access their own memory and experiences – conscious and subconscious – to express the contemporary experience.

Natalia Gonzalez Martin works on a small scale, using traditional painting techniques that draw their influence from Christian religious iconography and medieval illuminated manuscripts, informed by her Spanish customs and heritage. Predominantly working with the female figure, she uses minutely detailed brushstrokes to paint intimate corners of the female body – the curves of the neck, the ear, the toes – creating an erotic tension between desire and the forbidden.

Shailee Mehta works extensively with elements of figuration and embodiment, situating the female body as a central agential subject in her explorations around femininity and visibility. Her work is descriptive of a poetics of space where elements of the interior and the exterior blend into each other, giving her protagonists an unsettling ‘untamed’ appearance. Rooted in the female gaze, her figures subvert patriarchal tropes, and the narratives of looking and being looked at take up multiple meanings such as desire, contemplation or rejection.

Sola Olulode’s paintings are nuanced and tender visions of intimacy and community; her wistful images celebrations of Black identity, womxnhood and non-binary people. Distinguished by their use of gestural brushwork, indigo dye, wax, oil bar, impasto and monochromatic schemes, they speak strongly of her Nigerian heritage. Allowing the body to take centre stage, she creates utopian scenes which give prominence to movement, gesture, and romanticised acts; her works exposing a unique tenderness and a fluid ability of bringing to life representation and visibility of Black Queer lived experiences.

Wawi Navarroza works in photography and employs her own figure to create formal staged compositions in large tableau vivant format. In her Tropical Gothic series she reconstructs and rediscovers herself amongst layers of disparate objects rendered in eccentric and vibrant colours. Following in the tradition of other female artists (Frida Kahlo, Mickalene Thomas and Cindy Sherman) who use history, appropriation, and citation as a form of cultural critique, these self-portraits reference a shared condition among women across time and space, history and geography.

Saelia Aparicio’s practice finds inspiration from classical mythology and transformative hybrid forms between animals and humans, such as the sphinx, Anubis or the Mayan Camazotz. Her wall tapestries – a collaboration with fashion designer Craig Green – feature a series of folk-inspired portraits that deliver an expressive take on the human form. Completely imagined and very specific in their gender fluidity, they draw from the ‘two-spirited’ idea that comes from Indigenous North American culture. From conceptual nature-inspired motifs like parts of walnut trees and poison ivy, the hand-stitched artworks showcase an imaginative mashup of ancient anatomical diagrams and contemporary art.

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Image caption: Wawi Navarroza, May in Manila/Hot Summer, 2019. Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle, cold-mounted on acid-free aluminum, 135.38 × 101.6 cm. Edition of 5 plus 2 AP

Courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi

 

After the success of the first edition last year, Zawyeh Gallery launches 6 December 2021 the second edition of Ramallah Art Fair. This year the show is organised with wider participation amongst artists. The art fair includes over 150 artworks; some were created recently or produced specifically for the fair by over 30 Palestinian artists living in Palestine and the diaspora in addition to artists from the occupied Syrian Golan, an artist from Lebanon, and a Turkish artist. The artworks deal with different topics; some are stemmed from the Palestinian reality using a wide range of materials. One of the main features that the fair maintains this year is exhibiting the works of young artists, side by side works for prominent artists.

Ziad Anani, Zawyeh Gallery director, stated: “The main goal of the event is to provide original artworks at reasonable prices for new collectors to enjoy Palestinian art.” He added that the art fair is a rare opportunity that gives glimpses on the new art production mainly in Palestine and allows the audience to read into the new artistic paths and directions that new and prominent artists are embarking on these days.

Participating artists are Sliman Mansour, Nabil Anani, Abed Abdi, Khaled Hourani, Shada Safadi, Tayseer Barakat, Fouad Agbaria, Bashar Alhroub, Yazan Abu Salameh, Ibrahim Mozain, Shafik Radwan, Mahdi Baraghithi, Vera Tamari, Ahed Izhiman, Ahmad Canaan, Akram Al-Halabi, Alaa Attoun, Alaa Albaba, Asad Azi, Ayman Essa, Benji Boyadgian, Dima Hourani, Easam Darawshi, Mohamed Abusal, Nidal Morra, Reem Masri, Ruba Salameh, Saher Nassar, Taqi Spateen, Ikram Awidat, Rafat Asad, in addition to Stephanie Bou Chedid (Lebanon) and Cem Polat (Turkey).

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Image caption: Alaa Attoun, Scene III, 2021. Photography on fine art paper, 48 x 34 cm. Edition of 10
Courtesy of Zawyeh Gallery

Andakulova Gallery is delighted to present the artworks of Timur D’Vatz in its gallery spaces for its latest exhibition. The inaugural of the Russian-born Uzbekistaneducated artist’s works will be held on December 1, 2021 and the exhibition will continue till March 1, 2022.

Timur D’Vatz is an artist bestowed with unique talent and knowledge. He is inspired by ancient history, medieval tapestries and Celtic mythology. His paintings also reflect a fascination with alchemy and the ideals of Pre-Raphaelites.

This year, he won the Grand Prix at the NordArt exhibition. Based in Germany, NordArt has established itself as one of the largest exhibitions of contemporary art in Europe, representing all facets of visual arts. D’Vatz has won several other awards, including the Guinness prize for First Time Exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, the A. T. Kearney Prize, and the B.P Portrait award at London’s National Portrait Gallery 2002.

D’Vatz has won several other awards, including the Guinness prize for First Time Exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, the A. T. Kearney Prize, and the B.P Portrait award at London’s National Portrait Gallery 2002.

Noble deer, elegant horses, energetic hounds and speedy birds of prey, are frequent images in his artworks. They are considered majestic symbols of freedom, power and beauty.
Legends and symbols of early Byzantine art, medieval tapestries and stories of King Arthur, come to life in D’Vatz’s artworks.
At an early stage of his life, he was influenced by Russian icon painting; he expressed the spiritual images of saints and Apostles. Their serene faces and refined hands are preserved in his works as a distinctive feature.

Each figure displayed in Timur’s paintings is symbolic. If the mission of Art is to transfer inner meaning, the light of the plot, comprehended through contemplation and if a painting is not just a design spot on wall, but rather a means of contact with another space, then the artist involves the viewer in the world he has created, with special energy and a certain aura.

Timur D’Vatz was born in 1986 in Moscow. In 1983, he attended Art College in Tashkent. It was a beautiful complex of old buildings with a few enclosed courtyards shaded by tall trees and refreshed by fountains.

There was the ambience of an inspiring little oasis in the middle of the big and busy city. It was wonderful to be painting in the atmospheric art studios. Lunch breaks would be just across the street, in a little café situated above the Anhor River. Traditional food such as pilaf, lagman and nan bread, were accompanied by the music of a mountain river, as artists talked about their current art projects and dreams about the future.

Timur D’Vatz’s journey continued when he moved to Moscow in 1990, where he started to exhibit. He was a regular visitor to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, where he was drawn to works of antiquity. Timur also did extensive research on the human body in the museum library.

Five years later, he moved to London, where his education continued at the Royal Academy of Arts School. He was the recipient of the Sir James Walker and Jack Goldhill Scholarships and while studying, began exhibiting in several art galleries. He actively participated in the London art world.

He was commissioned by the church for an altarpiece painting in Notre Dame de France Catholic Church in London and also won a commission to paint two paintings in the Four Seasons hotel Moscow as well.

His artworks are collected by King of Bahrain and British Royal families. Timur D’Vatz’s artworks are displayed in the magnificent Coutances Cathedral, which is a Gothic Roman Catholic cathedral constructed from 1210 to 1274 in the town of Coutances, Normandy, France.
The artist explores pictorial space with his stylishly constructed mis-en-scenes. The art offers a modern day take on ancient legends and re-appropriated symbols sourced from early Byzantine art and medieval tapestries.

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Timur D’Vatz’s works is the way in which his art is inextricably linked to the world of textiles: he excels at depicting the rich fabrics of Chinese silk printing and is influenced by intricate patterns of the Nabis School.

The School consisted of a group of young French artists active in Paris from 1888 until 1900, who played a large part in the transition from impressionism and academic art to abstract art, symbolism and the other early movements of modernism.

D’Vatz’s shapes and patterns take on a life of their own, giving to the composition a lyrical harmony. The painter alleviates any possibility of visual heaviness or monotony by leaving elegant and refined forms to serve and to complicate the pictorial space.

The splashes of Baroque colour and elongated body shapes create a surface pattern, which communicates the decorative and abstract qualities of his compositions.

The insistent flatness of the image, moreover, renders the elongated figures of his protagonists, the hounds and the falcons, inseparable from their environment: they seem not so much to inhabit the space, as to merge with it.

Timur D’Vatz spends time between his studios in Normandy and London.

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Image Caption: Timur D’Vatz, Falconers, 2021. Oil on Canvas, 81 x 122 cm.

Courtesy of Andakulova Gallery

“For me it has always been a city of ruins and of end-of-empire melancholy. I’ve spent my life either battling with this melancholy or (like all Istanbulus) making it my own.”

-Orhan Pamuk, Istanbul: Memories and the City

I will build a boat

I will keep sailing

I will keep sailing

Beyond the seas there IS a town

Where windows are open to epiphanies

The rooftops are inhabited by pigeons

Gazing at the fountains of Human Intelligence

Every ten-year-old child holds a bough of knowledge

The townsfolk see in a brick row a flame,

Or a delicate dream;

Dust can hear the music of your feelings

The fluttering wings of mythical birds are audible in the wind

Beyond the seas there is a town

Where the Sun is as wide-open as the eyes of early-risers

Poets are the inheritors of water, wisdom, and light

Beyond the seas there is a town,

So one should build a boat.

-Sohrab Sepehri

“A destruction, an annihilation that only man can provoke, only man can prevent.”

-Elie Wiesel

You walk down alleyways and dead-ends. You circle the squares and roundabouts of your memory. You recognize the feel of the summer heat on your skin. That is yours for ever. Passing by an open window, you know the smell of the mid day meal cooking on a stove. You are sure the fried onions would have a sweet taste on your tongue if you were called in to share the repast. You should be in sync with the city’s pulse, this beating heart that you sense against the soul of your shoes.

And yet.

And yet you see it cracking, crumbling, crashing. For years now, for a long time. It is soundless, slow, steady. You are walking down narrow lanes, tree lined avenues and around street corners, all renamed reshaped. Where there was a door there is gaping hole. Where there were windows, blind darkness within an empty frame. A three legged chair abandoned to its fate, a stuffed bear for the alley cats. Cities no longer in control of their past or their destiny, abandoned to the pillage of the greedy, of the small limited minds.

You walk down narrow lanes and pass by filigreed garden gates. You look for stories, memories contained within the walled ruins that were home to all that. And so much more than that. The heart and soul of the city.

And yet.

You find a city without borders a city with no past, no future. And you remember having read this:

“If I see my city as beautiful and bewitching, then my life must be so too.”

-Orhan Pamuk, Istanbul: memories and the city

-Parinaz Eleish Gharagozlou

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Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery

Image caption: Parinaz Eleish Gharagozlou, Seven Pillars of Wisdom (Amnesia Series), 2020. Acrylic paint, oil paint, oil pen, pencil, paper, collage on canvas, 183.51 x 239.08 cm

Staying with the Trouble—Reading the Present through the Past and the Future

“We […] live in disturbing times, mixed-up times, troubling and turbid times. The task is to become capable, with each other in all of our bumptious kinds, of response. […] Our task is to make trouble, to stir up potent response to devastating events, as well as to settle troubled waters and rebuild quiet places. In urgent times, many of us are tempted to address trouble in terms of making an imagined future safe, of stopping something from happening that looms in the future, of clearing away the present and the past in order to make futures for coming generations. Staying with the trouble does not require such a relationship to times called the future. In fact, staying with the trouble requires learning to be truly present […].”

In Staying with the Trouble, theoretician Donna J. Haraway imagines a world in which we live together with various planetary organisms in a sustainable way. She does not put humans at the core of her thinking but coexistence with other species and creatures. The eponymous group exhibition deals with the Chthulucene, an age established by Haraway, in which the human and the inhuman are inextricably linked: “Chthonic ones are beings of the earth, both ancient and up-to-the-minute.” A theoretical structure that allows for reflection on our present oscillating between utopia and dystopia, reality and fantasy, this is an attempt to read the present through the past and future and to have them enter into a dialogue with each other.

“Our task is to make trouble”

2019 marked the thirtieth anniversary of the world wide web. A technological revolution that has become indispensable in our daily lives—and yet we are already envisioning a reboot. Social networks dictate our life. “Fake news” and populist systems are gaining the upper hand. Yet, none of this is new. Let’s remember how drastically the first industrial revolution in the second half of the eighteenth century changed our economic and social system, as did the transition from monarchies to democracies. A look into the past teaches us that change seems to be the only constant in our society. All the more important, then, is a critical examination of artistic positions that enable us to change our course, develop new ways of thinking, and look inconvenient realities straight in the eye.

The works created specifically for this exhibition by three Austrian-born or Austrian-based artists, Monika Grabuschnigg, James Lewis, and Laurence Sturla, share the use of “traditional”-looking materials like clay and concrete, while their unusual, almost uncanny styles harbor a common interest in science fiction. This is also reflected in the technoid soundscape pervading the Carbon 12 exhibition space. James Lewis culled twelve hours’ worth of crackles, beeps, and buzzes from an open-source archive. This sonic environment turns out to be an arrangement of various water noises: human-made on the one hand, as in the case of a sewage system or a flushing toilet, and natural on the other, as in the case of a burbling stream. The sound can be traced back to three manhole covers cast from aluminum that are tagged with almost unpronounceable numbers of seconds, which correspond to the average duration of various everyday activities, and which are surrounded by an architectural structure. Lewis’s installation addresses not only the ambivalent relationship of two clashing realities—culture vs. nature—but also the confrontation of individual and communal interests. The sound emanating from the depths of the space symbolizes a kind of invisible danger that raises the question of whether such noises will soon be a thing of the past, or whether surmounting individual needs might still lead to change for the sake of the common good.

Whereas Lewis’s structure calls an existing system into question, Sturla toys with the idea of a contaminated history and the relics of a no-longer-extant industrialized world. In their mode of production, the ceramic sculptures tie in with historical boatbuilding techniques and heating constructions. They evoke ruinous fragments visualizing a bygone time in their overfired, scorched surfaces covered in cracks and residual salt lines: origin and function uncertain. Sturla dares to attempt to recall a forgotten age with all its tried-and-true techniques and formal repertoires while at the same time directing our attention to an elusive future. Not least, he demonstrates this in the deliberately chosen contrast between handmade ceramics on the one hand and an appearance reminiscent of industrial engineering on the other.

Utopia and dystopia are also close neighbors in Monika Grabuschnigg’s work. The historically fraught symbol of the Atropa belladonna —better known as deadly nightshade—runs like a thread through her new work group. Originally, the plant, which bears black cherry- like fruit, was associated with a feminine beauty ideal, as the sap had a pupil-dilating effect—an aesthetic kinship that is reflected in the plump, oversize form of the bouquets modeled from clay. In her works, Grabuschnigg plays with the ambivalent appearance of nature, which may generate both pleasure and unease in us humans. This is also evident in the deliberately ambiguous choice of subject matter: While belladonna was initially known as a medicinal and magical plant with aphrodisiac effects, it turned out to be deadly in higher doses. Nature presents itself not only as a “victim” of human endeavors but also as an autonomous trigger of uncertainty and danger. The bouquets in their fiery-red, lasciviously rose-gold form are equally attractive and uncanny, harmonious and melancholy.

In this world split by contradictions, Haraway’s wish “to be truly present” requires not only breaking with common patterns of thought but especially not viewing dichotomies like fantasy and reality, utopia and dystopia, nature and culture as separate from each other and instead—as Lewis, Sturla, and Grabuschnigg demonstrate—allowing them to blend with each other.

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Courtesy of Carbon 12

Image: Work by Laurence Sturla

Ayyam Gallery is pleased to present to (t)irony the first solo exhibition featuring Sharjah-based Iraqi sculptor Muatasim Alkubaisy’s work.

(t)irony features Alkubaisy’s largest body of work yet, composed of a selection of figures, portraying those that have been ruined by power. These non-deserving and corrupt characters utilise their positions to suffocate and belittle the common man. The artist transforms misery and discrimination into sophisticated and intricate characters through a delicate yet deliberate touch. He magnifies and exaggerates traits creating caricatural portraits, presenting a sarcastic consciousness, and exposing the arrogance of their behaviors and practices.

The figures are merely cartoon characters with puffed bellies and swollen jugular veins. Concealed by dress, their physical deformities, malignancy, and evil schemes still show through the bronze’s smooth surfaces. The intimidation, evil, and terror are deprecated into mockery, becoming objects.

The characters are situated in different environments, positioned with different stances, alone or in groups. Some read a paper or are on the toilet, trivialising and making them more humane, more attainable. Embedded, are tokens of symbolism, the rats representing vermin qualities such as filth, cruelty, and disease.

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Courtesy of Ayyam Gallery

Image caption: Muatasim Alkubaisy, Untitled, 2020, Bronze, Edition of 8, 23 x 40 x 21 cm

Curated by Founder and Director of Tashkeel, Sheikha Lateefa bint Maktoum and veteran Emirati photographer Jassim Al Awadhi, the exhibition features a series of thought-provoking images that demonstrate the ever-evolving process of art and creation by six Emirati photographers: Ola Allouz, Yagoub Al Hammadi, Mousa Al Raeesi, Faisal Al Rais, Mona Al Tamimi and Maitha Bughanoum.

From End to End prompts the viewer to question mankind’s synergy with the natural world. With selected works depicting intimate aspects of human existence spanning vast geographical distances from the streets of Satwa to the remote mangroves of Al Dhafra and the bustling coastlines of Zanzibar, the subtle details of each work highlight man’s unrelenting disruption of the environment around him: The microparticles of plastics worn by fisherwomen drifting into the seas; the remnants of fishing nets deposited in the seas of the Arabian Gulf; the dredged tidal flats off the shore of Abu Dhabi; and the plastic waste generated from communal feasts. While in an untouched area of Dubai nests an owl and her chicks. As their existence and that of their species hangs in the balance, the images stand as a bold reminder of the fragility of the natural world and the need for mankind to step up and fulfill its unequivocal moral duty to protect and preserve it for all time.

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Courtesy of Tashkeel Studio

Image caption: Mousa Al Raeesi, The Big Tree, 2020

Hady Boraey is an independent visual artist as well as a lecturer for the Fine Arts department at Alexandria University. Boraey has amassed a world of artistic knowledge in the past 20 years as he experimented with painting, drawing and sculpture. Despite his affinity for experimentation, Boraey consistently seeks to take his viewers on a journey, opening the mind to new perspectives and blurring the lines between physical and psychological.

His latest exhibition, Eden Dance is born from the pandemic and a desire to reconnect with nature. In classic Boraey fashion, the collection depicts a rich and textured fantasy world. Stoic figures feature center-stage in almost every artwork. Sharp-edged facial features are made sharper by their geometric figures — a stark contrast to the muted backdrops that lay behind them. Cacti, leaves, and budding plants, not surprisingly, are present in many of the pieces as well, denoting the obvious desire to rejoin not only nature, but the outdoor world beyond the confines and isolation of lockdown.

The sun, stars, and birds make an appearance in a few of the paintings, breathing life into the collection and suggesting the figures are, in fact, outside. In some pieces, the figures look up longingly to the starry or sunny sky, in others, they dance in an almost spiritual appreciation of the great outdoors. And in yet others, they simply appear at peace.

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Courtesy of Fann Á Porter

Image caption: Hady Boraey, The Bliss Dance, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Qatar Museums—Qatar’s preeminent institution for art and culture—will present a mid-career retrospective of the acclaimed American artist and designer, Virgil Abloh, at the Garage Gallery at the Fire Station. The first museum exhibition of his work to be presented in the Middle East, Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech will be on view until 31 March 2022. With more than 55 works, the exhibition will offer an in-depth look at Abloh’s diverse pioneering media practice that ranges from visual arts to music, fashion, architecture, and design. Figures of Speech is organised by Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, adapted for this presentation by Qatar Museums, and designed by and in collaboration with AMO. It is part of the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture programme, an annual international cultural exchange designed to deepen understanding between nations and their people.

Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, said: “We believe that people in Qatar and throughout the Gulf will be enthralled by this introduction to the visionary, barrier-defying work of artist and designer Virgil Abloh. We are especially thrilled that Figures of Speech will open during our week-long event Qatar Creates: Fashion and Design, which will bring together creative professionals from around the world in celebration of our local and regional talent. With both the exhibition and the event, Qatar Museums is carrying forward its commitment to nurturing artistic talent, opening career opportunities, and offering inspiration to our audiences.”

Sheikha Reem Al Thani, Acting Deputy CEO of Exhibitions & Marketing, said “We are looking forward to presenting Figures of Speech, which will trace Virgil Abloh’s inventive practice and his many achievements. This special exhibition, combined with an extensive programme of workshops and talks we have planned to complement it, is sure to inspire and engage our audiences.”

Virgil Abloh (American, b. 1980) cultivated an interest in design and music at an early age, inspired by the urban culture of Chicago. While pursuing a master’s degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology, he met American musician Kanye West and joined West’s creative team to work on album covers, concert designs, and merchandising. In 2013 Abloh founded his stand-alone fashion brand Off-White™ in Milan, Italy, and in 2018 he assumed the position of Men’s Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton.

Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech was curated by the MCA’s former James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator, Michael Darling with creative direction from Virgil Abloh, and Samir Bantal, Director of AMO (the research studio of the acclaimed architecture firm OMA). Curatorial assistance was also provided by Chanon Kenji Praepipatmongkol, Marjorie Susman Curatorial Fellow at the MCA Chicago. This exhibition has been on view at the MCA Chicago (10 June – 29 September 2019), the High Museum of Art Atlanta (12 Nov 2019 – 8 Mar 2020) and is currently on view at the ICA Boston (through 26 September 2021).

Michael Darling stated, “The exhibition has been laid out and designed to be in dialogue with the dynamic spaces of the Fire Station. As a result, there are new resonances between artworks and visitors will see a refreshed and renewed exhibition.”

Through Abloh’s own work and many collaborations, Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech shows the complex universe of fashion, music, art and design he moves in, demonstrating his ability to fluently speak the language of each discipline. Transcending the idea of a discipline, Abloh’s work, since the initial show in Chicago, has grown to a continuous broadcast of creativity. The exhibition is designed to provide an overview of the disciplines, pivotal moments, and statements of one of the most important contemporary cultural phenomenons. The Fire Station provides a unique setting for the exhibition. Two large gallery spaces give the visitors the immersive experience to feel the variety of works, while the more intimate gallery 3 puts emphasis on the theme of race in Black Gaze. The outdoor courtyard connects all galleries and places some of Abloh’s works where they belong, in the city. The Doha edition of Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech contains the Inflatable Bouncy Castle as well as the never before exhibited Customized Mercedes G-Wagon. The exhibition design also repurposes a number of elements from Qatar Museums’ previous exhibitions, such as the LED ticker signs and steel grates minimizing waste.

As a continuation of the works in the galleries, a concept store uses one of Fire Station’s warehouse spaces as the ideal setting to browse the exhibition merchandise. The concept store features a retrospective of best-selling Off-White™ products and exclusive new collections inspired by the exhibition. The products are available in-store, on-site only.

Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech is sponsored by ExxonMobil, Qatar Airways, Astro Automotive Services, Mazaya Real Estate Development Company and Qatar-USA Year of Culture.

The exhibition is presented as part of the Qatar-United States 2021 Year of Culture, sponsored by ExxonMobil, which was formalized in September 2020 with a cooperative agreement between the State of Qatar and the United States of America during the 2020 Qatar-United States Strategic Dialogue in Washington, D.C.

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Courtesy of Qatar Museums

Image caption: Installation view, Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech”, MCA Chicago. June – September, 2019. Work shown: Virgil Abloh, A Series of Events, 2019. Ceramics. Private Collection. Photo: Nathan Keay, ©MCA Chicago. Courtesy of The Gymnastics Art Institute & Virgil Abloh Art Studio and Design Practice. ©️ 2021.

Run With The Wolves – an exhibition featuring five contemporary women artists – explores mythology, identity, gender and sexuality through figuration as the central motif. The show takes its title from the book Women who Run with the Wolves – Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. A Jungian analyst and storyteller, Estés uses multicultural myths and fairy tales as ‘psychic archaeological digs’ to access what she refers to as the ruins of the female unconscious. The exhibition reflects on how five women artists access their own memory and experiences – conscious and subconscious – to express the contemporary experience.

Natalia Gonzalez Martin works on a small scale, using traditional painting techniques that draw their influence from Christian religious iconography and medieval illuminated manuscripts, informed by her Spanish customs and heritage. Predominantly working with the female figure, she uses minutely detailed brushstrokes to paint intimate corners of the female body – the curves of the neck, the ear, the toes – creating an erotic tension between desire and the forbidden.

Shailee Mehta works extensively with elements of figuration and embodiment, situating the female body as a central agential subject in her explorations around femininity and visibility. Her work is descriptive of a poetics of space where elements of the interior and the exterior blend into each other, giving her protagonists an unsettling ‘untamed’ appearance. Rooted in the female gaze, her figures subvert patriarchal tropes, and the narratives of looking and being looked at take up multiple meanings such as desire, contemplation or rejection.

Sola Olulode’s paintings are nuanced and tender visions of intimacy and community; her wistful images celebrations of Black identity, womxnhood and non-binary people. Distinguished by their use of gestural brushwork, indigo dye, wax, oil bar, impasto and monochromatic schemes, they speak strongly of her Nigerian heritage. Allowing the body to take centre stage, she creates utopian scenes which give prominence to movement, gesture, and romanticised acts; her works exposing a unique tenderness and a fluid ability of bringing to life representation and visibility of Black Queer lived experiences.

Wawi Navarroza works in photography and employs her own figure to create formal staged compositions in large tableau vivant format. In her Tropical Gothic series she reconstructs and rediscovers herself amongst layers of disparate objects rendered in eccentric and vibrant colours. Following in the tradition of other female artists (Frida Kahlo, Mickalene Thomas and Cindy Sherman) who use history, appropriation, and citation as a form of cultural critique, these self-portraits reference a shared condition among women across time and space, history and geography.

Saelia Aparicio’s practice finds inspiration from classical mythology and transformative hybrid forms between animals and humans, such as the sphinx, Anubis or the Mayan Camazotz. Her wall tapestries – a collaboration with fashion designer Craig Green – feature a series of folk-inspired portraits that deliver an expressive take on the human form. Completely imagined and very specific in their gender fluidity, they draw from the ‘two-spirited’ idea that comes from Indigenous North American culture. From conceptual nature-inspired motifs like parts of walnut trees and poison ivy, the hand-stitched artworks showcase an imaginative mashup of ancient anatomical diagrams and contemporary art.

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Image caption: Wawi Navarroza, May in Manila/Hot Summer, 2019. Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle, cold-mounted on acid-free aluminum, 135.38 × 101.6 cm. Edition of 5 plus 2 AP

Courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi

 

Andakulova Gallery is delighted to present the artworks of Timur D’Vatz in its gallery spaces for its latest exhibition. The inaugural of the Russian-born Uzbekistaneducated artist’s works will be held on December 1, 2021 and the exhibition will continue till March 1, 2022.

Timur D’Vatz is an artist bestowed with unique talent and knowledge. He is inspired by ancient history, medieval tapestries and Celtic mythology. His paintings also reflect a fascination with alchemy and the ideals of Pre-Raphaelites.

This year, he won the Grand Prix at the NordArt exhibition. Based in Germany, NordArt has established itself as one of the largest exhibitions of contemporary art in Europe, representing all facets of visual arts. D’Vatz has won several other awards, including the Guinness prize for First Time Exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, the A. T. Kearney Prize, and the B.P Portrait award at London’s National Portrait Gallery 2002.

D’Vatz has won several other awards, including the Guinness prize for First Time Exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, the A. T. Kearney Prize, and the B.P Portrait award at London’s National Portrait Gallery 2002.

Noble deer, elegant horses, energetic hounds and speedy birds of prey, are frequent images in his artworks. They are considered majestic symbols of freedom, power and beauty.
Legends and symbols of early Byzantine art, medieval tapestries and stories of King Arthur, come to life in D’Vatz’s artworks.
At an early stage of his life, he was influenced by Russian icon painting; he expressed the spiritual images of saints and Apostles. Their serene faces and refined hands are preserved in his works as a distinctive feature.

Each figure displayed in Timur’s paintings is symbolic. If the mission of Art is to transfer inner meaning, the light of the plot, comprehended through contemplation and if a painting is not just a design spot on wall, but rather a means of contact with another space, then the artist involves the viewer in the world he has created, with special energy and a certain aura.

Timur D’Vatz was born in 1986 in Moscow. In 1983, he attended Art College in Tashkent. It was a beautiful complex of old buildings with a few enclosed courtyards shaded by tall trees and refreshed by fountains.

There was the ambience of an inspiring little oasis in the middle of the big and busy city. It was wonderful to be painting in the atmospheric art studios. Lunch breaks would be just across the street, in a little café situated above the Anhor River. Traditional food such as pilaf, lagman and nan bread, were accompanied by the music of a mountain river, as artists talked about their current art projects and dreams about the future.

Timur D’Vatz’s journey continued when he moved to Moscow in 1990, where he started to exhibit. He was a regular visitor to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, where he was drawn to works of antiquity. Timur also did extensive research on the human body in the museum library.

Five years later, he moved to London, where his education continued at the Royal Academy of Arts School. He was the recipient of the Sir James Walker and Jack Goldhill Scholarships and while studying, began exhibiting in several art galleries. He actively participated in the London art world.

He was commissioned by the church for an altarpiece painting in Notre Dame de France Catholic Church in London and also won a commission to paint two paintings in the Four Seasons hotel Moscow as well.

His artworks are collected by King of Bahrain and British Royal families. Timur D’Vatz’s artworks are displayed in the magnificent Coutances Cathedral, which is a Gothic Roman Catholic cathedral constructed from 1210 to 1274 in the town of Coutances, Normandy, France.
The artist explores pictorial space with his stylishly constructed mis-en-scenes. The art offers a modern day take on ancient legends and re-appropriated symbols sourced from early Byzantine art and medieval tapestries.

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Timur D’Vatz’s works is the way in which his art is inextricably linked to the world of textiles: he excels at depicting the rich fabrics of Chinese silk printing and is influenced by intricate patterns of the Nabis School.

The School consisted of a group of young French artists active in Paris from 1888 until 1900, who played a large part in the transition from impressionism and academic art to abstract art, symbolism and the other early movements of modernism.

D’Vatz’s shapes and patterns take on a life of their own, giving to the composition a lyrical harmony. The painter alleviates any possibility of visual heaviness or monotony by leaving elegant and refined forms to serve and to complicate the pictorial space.

The splashes of Baroque colour and elongated body shapes create a surface pattern, which communicates the decorative and abstract qualities of his compositions.

The insistent flatness of the image, moreover, renders the elongated figures of his protagonists, the hounds and the falcons, inseparable from their environment: they seem not so much to inhabit the space, as to merge with it.

Timur D’Vatz spends time between his studios in Normandy and London.

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Image Caption: Timur D’Vatz, Falconers, 2021. Oil on Canvas, 81 x 122 cm.

Courtesy of Andakulova Gallery

Ayyam Gallery is pleased to present to (t)irony the first solo exhibition featuring Sharjah-based Iraqi sculptor Muatasim Alkubaisy’s work.

(t)irony features Alkubaisy’s largest body of work yet, composed of a selection of figures, portraying those that have been ruined by power. These non-deserving and corrupt characters utilise their positions to suffocate and belittle the common man. The artist transforms misery and discrimination into sophisticated and intricate characters through a delicate yet deliberate touch. He magnifies and exaggerates traits creating caricatural portraits, presenting a sarcastic consciousness, and exposing the arrogance of their behaviors and practices.

The figures are merely cartoon characters with puffed bellies and swollen jugular veins. Concealed by dress, their physical deformities, malignancy, and evil schemes still show through the bronze’s smooth surfaces. The intimidation, evil, and terror are deprecated into mockery, becoming objects.

The characters are situated in different environments, positioned with different stances, alone or in groups. Some read a paper or are on the toilet, trivialising and making them more humane, more attainable. Embedded, are tokens of symbolism, the rats representing vermin qualities such as filth, cruelty, and disease.

---

Courtesy of Ayyam Gallery

Image caption: Muatasim Alkubaisy, Untitled, 2020, Bronze, Edition of 8, 23 x 40 x 21 cm

Curated by Founder and Director of Tashkeel, Sheikha Lateefa bint Maktoum and veteran Emirati photographer Jassim Al Awadhi, the exhibition features a series of thought-provoking images that demonstrate the ever-evolving process of art and creation by six Emirati photographers: Ola Allouz, Yagoub Al Hammadi, Mousa Al Raeesi, Faisal Al Rais, Mona Al Tamimi and Maitha Bughanoum.

From End to End prompts the viewer to question mankind’s synergy with the natural world. With selected works depicting intimate aspects of human existence spanning vast geographical distances from the streets of Satwa to the remote mangroves of Al Dhafra and the bustling coastlines of Zanzibar, the subtle details of each work highlight man’s unrelenting disruption of the environment around him: The microparticles of plastics worn by fisherwomen drifting into the seas; the remnants of fishing nets deposited in the seas of the Arabian Gulf; the dredged tidal flats off the shore of Abu Dhabi; and the plastic waste generated from communal feasts. While in an untouched area of Dubai nests an owl and her chicks. As their existence and that of their species hangs in the balance, the images stand as a bold reminder of the fragility of the natural world and the need for mankind to step up and fulfill its unequivocal moral duty to protect and preserve it for all time.

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Courtesy of Tashkeel Studio

Image caption: Mousa Al Raeesi, The Big Tree, 2020

London Art Fair returns from 20-24 April 2022, highlighting a selection of the best galleries from the UK and beyond. The event will offer both seasoned and aspiring collectors a diverse presentation of modern and contemporary art, alongside curated displays, and an inspiring programme of talks, panel discussions and artists insights.

In addition, London Art Fair continues to champion and support regional museums through its annual Museum Partnership, which this year invites the New Hall Art Collection at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, to showcase their collection of modern and contemporary art by women at the Fair.

2022 EXHIBITORS

This year will see the participation of over 100 galleries from around the world, including Austria, America, Portugal, Sweden, and Australia, with new exhibitors Gillian Jason Gallery, Mothflower and David Kovats; alongside returning names such as Richard Green, James Hyman and Purdy Hicks. The Fair will feature work by some of the world’s most renowned artists working across a variety of media, including Henry Moore, David Hockney, Bridget Riley and Paula Rego.

London Art Fair’s specialism in Modern art continues to be strongly represented through the participation of some of the UK’s leading galleries in the field. Thomas Spencer Fine Art will be presenting a selection of Modern British works on paper, including a previously unseen work by John Nash RA and a large 1970s gouache by Mary Fedden. Gilden’s Fine Art Gallery will showcase a selection of works by American and European Modern Masters, including etchings by Joan Miró and linocut prints by Pablo Picasso. Meanwhile Gerber Fine Art will focus on paintings by Scottish Modern Masters, and selected New Generation artists from the four Scottish art schools. Their presentation will include the work of Joan Eardley RSA, one of Scotland’s most revered 20th Century artists.

Waterhouse & Dodd’s display is focused on the work of David Bomberg and his students, such as Dennis Creffield and Dorothy Mead. Mead’s recently re-discovered oil paintings, which have not been shown publicly for over 40 years, will be on display alongside previously unseen works by Martyn Brewster ahead of a solo exhibition in March 2022.

New contemporary art on show at the Fair includes the multidisciplinary work of Jordi Alcaraz, courtesy of Alzueta Gallery, a reflection on volume, artistic language and time. Exclusive releases from print studio Jealous Gallery include a new edition by David Shrigley and Stoney Road Press will exhibit a number of Leah Hewson monotypes, which have not been shown previously. Elsewhere, Elizabeth Xi Bauer will share works by three emerging artists Theodore Ereira-Guyer, Abraham Kritzman, and Cătălin Marius Petrișor Hereșanu in a range of techniques consisting of printmaking, painting and sculpture and Arusha Gallery will present new pieces by Charlotte Keates, Jen Wink Hays and Connie Harrison.

For those interested in textiles and sculpture Thompson’s Gallery will present new and unseen works specifically created for the Fair, including work by Athena Anastasiou who uses bright acrylic wool to extend her painted image from the boundaries of the canvas. Another new and unseen work will be on display at Candida Stevens Gallery by contemporary textile/fibre artist Alice Kettle, titled Poppy. Meanwhile, James Hyman Gallery will be showing a rare and unique hand woven tapestry by RB Kitaj.

CURATED SECTIONS

London Art Fair reflects contemporary practice and collecting trends within the art world through its critically-acclaimed sections curated in collaboration with leading experts.

Platform

For this year’s annual themed section, guest curator Candida Stevens has chosen Music and its part in Contemporary Art, working with 10 galleries whose artists have created new work exploring the intersection of visual art and music, and the ways in which contemporary art can incorporate aspects of movement and rhythm. The display will range from abstract work referencing the riff of jazz music with off-key colour and off-kilter form to figurative artists representing the process of composition across both art forms.

On display from Candida Stevens Gallery will be Vanessa Jackson RA, whose recent street art project UpTownDancing took over London’s Piccadilly, as well as Ostinato, a series of 23 new unique woodcuts by Celia Cook. Australian gallery Otomys will be showcasing new works by the American painter Ben Crase, and Zimmer Stewart has planned a solo exhibition of paintings and etchings by Tom Farthing themed around fairgrounds. Cynthia Corbett Gallery will be presenting works from Matt Smith’s recent porcelain sculpture project Notes of a Love Song, and Andy Burgess’ vintage inspired and historic ephemera collages.

Museum Partnership

London Art Fair has partnered with the New Hall Art Collection for its annual Museum Partnership. The New Hall Art Collection is a permanent collection of modern and contemporary art by women at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge. The exhibition Myth-Making and Self-Fashioning: Women Artists from the New Hall Art Collection presents over 20 artists including Maggi Hambling, Rose Wylie and Miriam Schapiro from the largest collection of art by women in Europe.

The works on display, which include paintings, photographs, textiles and ceramics, will focus on two themes – myth-making and self-fashioning. Mythological tales present themselves in works by Paula Rego and Gayle Chong Kwan which are notable for their evocative storytelling and reference to familiar tales. Elsewhere, the theme of self-fashioning can be seen in the various ways in which women artists have controlled or manipulated the female form in their artwork, whether that be through self-portrait, fashion, or glamour. The presentation of this imagery, such as in works by Rose Wylie and Linder Sterling, will lead the viewer to consider themes of excess, femininity and beauty, which often contain a sense of underlying menace.

Art Projects

Established in 2005 to support emerging galleries, Art Projects returns to showcase the freshest contemporary art from across the globe. Amongst the diversity of the selected work for 2022 there is a sense of wishing to relook towards the future. Many of the featured artists look inwards at their own emotions, beliefs and mythologies, but with a keen eye on what these subjects mean for the wider world, asking: how do my own experiences mirror and contrast with those of others, and how can times of reflection and re-evaluation help us build the world we want.

Highlights include a display by Perve Gallery celebrating the legacy of Portuguese surrealist master Cruzeiro Seixas, which will also include a number of artists creating new works in situ at the fair. Arusha Gallery will present a solo booth by John Abell, entitled Horrorvacui, a new body of large scale framed linocuts. Dunja Krcek’s A Forest Blanket, the main work of Austrian gallery Kunst ab Hinterhof, consists of sewn-together pieces of fabric that have been dyed with differentiated plants and fauna and thus carry the information of the forest space within them. Aleph Contemporary’s presentation will be based on the essays of African American critic bell hooks with artists including Marcelle Hanselaar and Cristine Ruiz Guiñazú.

Hosted in the Art Projects New Media Room is Dreams Must Explain Themselves, an accompanying exhibition of new media initiatives, curated by Pryle Behrman. The exhibition will include interactive sculpture, sound art and social media based works that explore forgotten and imagined stories about the Business Design Centre’s history, as well as creatively reimagining the present and potential futures of the Fair’s site.

Photo50

Photo50 is the Fair’s critical forum for examining distinctive elements of current photographic practice. For 2022, Photo50 will be curated by Rodrigo Orrantia presenting works by British and UK-based artists responding to the idea of an island, looking at practices expanding the possibilities of photography. No Place is An Island will feature the work of fourteen artists, some of which will show brand new works created especially for Photo50.

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Courtesy of London Art Fair

Image caption: Raen Barnsley, Can You Please Just Focus, 2021. Courtesy of Jealous Gallery