Upcoming Exhibitions at Athr

Athr Gallery will be showcasing three solo artists, Faisal Almalki, Sara Abdu and Ramy Alqthami in the beginning of November. Read on for details.

LONE CANYON Faisal Almalki Solo Show Opening: Sunday, 2nd of November, 2014 03 November, 2014 – 10 January, 2015 Space 01, 5th Floor, Athr Gallery Faisal Almalki’s upcoming show titled Lone Canyon explores that tiny space between a woman and her veil as the artist encourages the public to see things the way she does.

THE INTANGIBLE BONDS IN OUR EXISTENCE Sara Abdu Solo Show Opening: Sunday, 2nd of November, 2014 03 November, 2014 – 10 January, 2015 Space 03, RF Floor, Athr Gallery In her first solo show titled The Intangible Bonds In Our Existence, Sara realizes the bonds that exist between humans and their surroundings; bonds that link any human to their emotions, realities and dreams; bonds that play an integral role that shape and affect us. She realizes these bonds as a co-existent consciousness within our own existence.   AL BITRA Ramy Alqthami Video Screening Opening: Sunday, 2nd of November, 2014 03 November – 03 December, 2014 Space 05, 5th Floor, Athr Gallery Ramy Alqthami revisits ‘Al Bitra’- the concrete block which was given to his family at random by the leaders of his tribe in Taif that bordered his land; a numbered block that easily identified this land as his. In his simple video of its removal, he reexamines the ‘Bitra’ as a representation of an economical, sociopolitical phenomenon that has consumed the state of humans. He poses the removal of a tangible concrete object with the removal of a metaphorical notion of borders and identity.   PREVIEW OF ZIAD ANTAR’S EXPIRED SERIES  02 November – 03 December, 2014 Space 02, RF Floor, Athr Gallery Captions (top to bottom) – Faisal Almalki, Mirror, 2014 – Sara Abdu, A Sleepless Savior Within A Dream Part II, 2014 – Ramy Alqthami, Image still of Al Bitra, 2014 – Ziad Antar, Mecca I, 2012 Copyright © 2014 Athr Gallery.

The Language of Human Consciousness

An upcoming exhibition this month by the Athr Gallery in Jeddah will be delivering the largest exhibition in Saudi Arabia on arts inspired by the study of geometry.

Dates and Timings

Jul 10 – Oct 10, 2014

Saturday to Thursday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm (Ramadan Time: 12 – 5 pm / 9.30 pm – 12 am)

Location

Athr Gallery

5th & RF Floors, Serafi Mega Mall, Tahlia St, Jeddah,

For thousands of years, the question of whether the basics of geometry came naturally to all humans or if they had to be taught; has been explored. According to Plato’s writings, Socrates attempted to determine how well an uneducated slave in a Greek household understood geometry, and eventually concluded that the slave’s soul ‘must have always possessed this knowledge’.

In the midst of startling havoc; humans by this very instinct seek to find order in this chaos, to reason with it; translating it to a language that is perhaps visual and universal is a common field of exploration for scientists and artists alike.

Athr Gallery will deliver a groundbreaking exhibition titled The Language of Human Consciousness in July 2014 and will include work by over 40 artists from around the world. Most of these artists will be exhibiting work for the first time in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East at large. To inaugurate the opening on July 10, Director of TATE Modern London, Chris Dercon will moderate a discussion with pioneering artists in the field.

Athr Gallery has established itself as a leading cultural institution, in which providing a platform for local Saudi artists is at its core. Through this exhibition – in which both local and international artists will be showcased side-by-side – the intended impact and potential benefits are twofold: establish an association between local Saudi artists and leading international artists, and provide an opportunity for the public to experience international culture through a local exhibition.

The Language of Human Consciousness takes geometry as a starting point, accepting its heritage as a symbol of purity, intelligence and perfection and bringing it towards a more contemporary interpretation as a language for exploring the atypical, the imperfect and the alternative. Works are brought together that seek to dissect segments of times, contexts and places and open them up to universal interpretation. The works, in the potency of the contradiction between their infinite possibilities as geometric compositions and the range of their references – social, political, art historical or other – are reduced to a neutral ground: to a human and conceivable form.

The exhibition will examine geometry in a comprehensive exhibition that showcases a multitude of applications in geometry. The dynamic exhibition will include sacred geometry as well as work that unconventionally utilizes geometry, an example of the latter would be the work of Sama Mara, who will present a series titled A Hidden Order, a culmination of several years of collaboration between composer Lee Westwood and artist Sama Mara; where they attempted to interpret music into a visual geometric form. To realise this ambitious exhibition, Athr Gallery has collaborated with over 20 leading galleries around the world – From Lisson Gallery in London to Galleria Continua in San Gimignano and The Third Line in Dubai.

Image and text courtesy of Athr Gallery

Experience Contemporary Arabia at Ayyam Gallery, Jeddah

Ayyam Gallery Jeddah will be presenting Contemporary Arabia, a multimedia exhibition featuring a selection of established and emerging Arab artists, including Samia Halaby, Tammam Azzam, and Shaweesh, to be held 5 May until 13 June 2014.

Contemporary Arabia will mark the first time a broad survey of Ayyam Gallery’s stable of artists has been shown in the Kingdom. Representing several generations of painters and photographers from across the region, this forthcoming group show will highlight the myriad ways that today’s painters and photographers are exploring the
intricacies of modern life through such themes as the impact of globalisation, the presence of militarised conflicts, and the oversaturation of media that has redefined our everyday existence. Other points of departure include explorations of form, such as visceral uses of colour, symphonic brushwork, and ethereal compositions, as springboards for sensory associations.

Nihad Al Turk Celebration, 2012 Mixed media on canvas 180 x 200 cm

In his ongoing Dream series, Syrian painter Safwan Dahoul unearths the psychology of solitude, depicting moments of crisis as a place of confinement, whether the death of a loved one, periods of estrangement, or the onset of political conflict. Through a recurring female protagonist whose Pharaonic eyes and calligraphic body situates her fragile state as of a phenomenon from time immemorial, Dahoul underscores the fragility of man amidst the variability of experiential realities.

Safwan Dahoul Dream 54, 2011 Acrylic on canvas 200 x 200 cm

In a playful body of photographs, Saudi artist Huda Beydoun explores the anonymity of public spaces and the interactions of random passersby as daily happenings unfold on city streets. During a trip to Morocco, Beydoun captured the scenes of her Tagged and Documented series by focusing on the routine action of urban settings while also framing the details of the different environs that define social organisation although outwardly banal.

Adorning her subjects with Mickey Mouse heads in silhouette and matching attire, she adds a sense of whimsy with a nod to the reach of consumerist culture to what might otherwise constitute as rituals of the mundane. Palestinian painter Oussama Diab utilises a conceptual approach to painting by appropriating the iconic markers and styles of seminal art movements to underscore the complexities of political conflict and exile.

Ranging in neo-expressionist canvases employing symbolist imagery derived from popular culture to a more recent realist body of work that places images associated with violence in settings that are historically reserved for sanctified subjects, Diab locates the intersections of visual culture and politics, emphasising how imagery has become one of the most powerful forms of mediation.

Mouteea Murad Trial No. 68, 2012 Acrylic on canvas 170 x 170 cm

The exhibition will also feature artists engaging regional traditions such as Syrian painter Mouteea Murad who reinterprets the aestheticised harmony of Islamic art and adheres to its bases in spirituality, mathematics, and the natural sciences. Through vivid, geometrically precise compositions, Murad articulates a sense of splendour in the world around him as confirmation of the sublime.

Exhibition Facts

Ayyam Gallery Jeddah
Opening Reception: Monday, 5 May from 7:00-9:00pm
Exhibition Dates: 5 May – 13 June 2014
Location: Bougainvillea Center Jeddah, 3rd floor
King Abdulaziz Road, next to Stars Avenue
Al-Zahra District, Jeddah
Tel: +966 12 613 4111
Email: jeddah@ayyamgallery.com

 – Text and images courtesy of Ayyam Gallery

What’s your art attitude in Jeddah?

Have you found your art groove in Jeddah yet? Now is as good a time as any to start thinking about it.

We all have a certain attitude towards art. We all live the experience of art in some way or the other and to some degree or the other. Some of us seek it by walking all the way to a gallery and regularly frequenting places designated for art. Some of us are convinced that we’re not ‘into art’ but have a good eye for color and aesthetics in general, and that might show in the way we do up our house, or the flair with which we attend to detail or naturally make an arrangement, be it with flowers, fabric or quite simply, a child’s lunchbox.  Whether we are conscious of it or not, a sense of beauty is inherent in us. We recognize and appreciate it despite ourselves, and we don’t need a certificate from the Slade School of Fine Art to know that we can enjoy art.

At this point in time, in the city of Jeddah, a variety of art forms and art experiences are available to those who’re interested. With the way this year started for Jeddah art-wise, this just might be the year and the moment to discover your art attitude. How much do you like to take in, and in what forms? It changes with every place we live in, and is fashioned by specifics of that place. In some cities, art is literally all around you, or places where you might find it are well-known and readily accessible. In some places, like Jeddah, the accessibility of art is uneven. There is public art on a scale and of a range which is uncommon to the rest of the world, round almost every bend. However, until very recently, specialized spaces for art were scanty and information about art events was not openly or timely diffused. This has changed, and art as an experience is on its way to becoming a part of popular culture. The sway of things calls for you to discover your art attitude.  I’m sharing mine here, and hope it’ll help you find yours in some way.