The art season’s closing shows opened last night in Alserkal Avenue and as ever, audiences were treated to some top quality art from around the region.
There was the usual mix of mediums, from sculpture to paintings and installations and some really unmissable shows.
I started the evening off with Mona Saudi’s show at Lawrie Shabibi Gallery. Saudi, a Jordanian, is one of the Arab region’s only female sculptors and one of very few sculptors in general. She told me that for her, working with stone is like writing poetry - she surrounds herself with the material and then, inspiration flows to her from the energy of the stones.
Another strong sculptural show is to be found in Showcase Gallery. There, a group show of Zimbabwean artists is on display with some beautiful works from artists I had never discovered before, such as Leonard Sezhendo and Lovemore Bonjisi.
In Ayyam Gallery, the vast space was filled with calligraphic works from Iranian Mohammed Bozorgi. Honestly, when someone says they will put on a calligraphy show, it takes a lot to make it interesting as calligraphy is such an overused medium. However, Bozorgi’s work resembles optical art and the deep respect he has for the material of the word makes his work stand out from other calligraphers.
Across the way in Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde, Zoulikha Bouabdellah’s show was a surprise. Despite the Algerian artist being very well established and having won many awards for her work, I had never encountered it before. I was really impressed by her concept – to show the contradictions of the modern world we live in – and her presentation. From stamped wallpaper, to steel-cut installations and a hanging embroidered curtain all of her pieces focused on repetition, as if to bring her message home.
Damian Flood, an Irish artist, has a selection of paintings in Grey Noise Gallery that were inspired by a recent trip to Sharjah and Oman. The fantastical nature of his landscapes drew me into the gallery space and left me wanting to explore his work more.
Another painter who used a mix of abstract and realism was Talar Agbhasian, a young Lebanese artist enjoying her first show in the UAE at Carbon 12. A talented painter, the artist has taken images found from the internet and reappropriated them to her cause, which deals with destruction and reconstruction.
Finally, I visited Green Art Gallery, who had some incredibly intricate works from Syrian artist Khaldoun Chichakli. The drawings and woodcuts depict Damascus in “years gone by” and not only are they truly masterful pieces of art but, given the current situation, leave you feeling heavy and sad that this truly rich and wonderful country is undergoing such a terrible and protracted crisis.
In my opinion, if you didn’t make it last night, all of the shows mentioned here are deserving of a visit and I would encourage you to do so over the next few weeks before the summer heat gets too much to bear.
aseaman@thenational.ae
