Exhibition focuses on works made from unwanted items
DUBAI // An exhibition opening on Saturday aims to show the public that unwanted, everyday items can be transformed into works of art.
Running at Gallery 76 in the Dubai International Art Centre, the show displays the works of three local artists.
Among them is Diyali Sen Bhalla, an illustrator and fashion designer, who creates her pieces from discarded furniture.
“Here in Dubai, especially, people are constantly moving and I see a lot of stuff that is thrown away or given away and is basically garbage. So that is where the idea came from, because we artists always need a surface to paint on,” she said.
Ms Bhalla’s pieces are adorned with painting, newspaper clippings and bits of fabric and will be displayed on the gallery’s walls. The three artists are also preparing a multimedia installation featuring pictures of the furniture artworks taken at different locations, such as Al Bastakiya and a beach in Jumeirah.
The change of perspective, she said, would hopefully encourage viewers to consider differently previously unwanted items.
“Instead of throwing something away, you can make it into a thing of beauty,” said the artist, who is also a keen supporter of recycling at home.
Also on display will be mosaics, collages and sculptures by Beena Samuel. “There are infinite possibilities with recycling,” she said, explaining that the mosaics feature items as diverse as discarded swimming-pool tiles, pieces of glass and even her old wristwatch.
The gallery’s art director, Jeff Scofield, is also exhibiting his work, which includes eight pieces of artwork set against the background of recycled newspapers. Several of the works feature coins and notes with the background being the business pages of newspapers.
“I am putting the coins, I am putting the dollar bills down on recycled paper so that people can think about the money, the value of recycling something, what is the intrinsic value and what is the actual value,” he said.
Mr Scofield is also presenting three ceramic sculptures featuring pieces of wire and other small metal parts he had found on construction sites in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
“They can be interpreted – are these high-rises, are these minarets, is this a city when you see the three of them together?” he said. “I like to take different materials from construction sites and weave them into abstract compositions ... and what I am expressing is the colours of a construction site, the browns of the sawdust, the colours of concrete and rust and you should understand the noise and energy of a construction site.”
The exhibition runs until April 26.
vtodorova@thenational.ae
