Art Dubai 2017: Gallery focus, Isabelle Van Den Eynde

Installation views for Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde's booth at Art Dubai 2017. Hassan Sharif's Cotton Rope can be seen hanging from the ceiling. Courtesy of Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde
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Next up in my gallery focus series for Art Dubai this year is home-grown space Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde. With a seven metre high sculpture by the late, great Hassan Sharif, it is difficult to miss their booth, which straddles the centre of the second contemporary gallery hall. That sculpture, Cotton Rope, is the last the artist made in his lifetime and it was actually completed by his assistants after his death.

The non-profit part of Art Dubai, a series of performances based around objects at the fair, engaged specifically with this sculpture with a one-off performance by Yasmina Reggad and Lana Fahmi, but if you missed that, it is still a must to go down and check out the towering cascade of rope.

Also in the booth, are large pieces by the trio Rokni and Ramin Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian who recently completed a large installation in the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi exhibition as well as work by Abdelkader Benchamma, who has a large installation in this year’s Sharjah Biennial.

Hung on both sides of a central wall, Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde is one of the more compelling booths of the fair.

* Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde is located in Hall 2, Booth E6.