Apply Now: Young Saudi Artists 2015

 

Athr Gallery is calling out to young Saudi-based artists between the age of 15 and 30. Follow the link below for details on how to apply. Applications will be assessed by a panel of judges.

 

OBJECTIVE & THEME Athr Gallery is proud to announce its 4th edition of YSA — a biannual call-out for talented young Saudi-based artists. The call-out is open to both Saudi nationals and residents living in Saudi that are between the age of 15 and 30.  Athr is searching for up-and-coming local artists who work across a range of styles and mediums. The Athr team and a group of influential judges will carefully select the winning artworks. The selected works will be presented in a highly-sought out group exhibition in April, 2015. This year’s exhibition is centered on: 60% How do we critically examine the “culture of the youth” in Saudi? According to statistics, we, the youth, make up more than 60% of Saudi’s total population. To many, the youth culture is perceived as a public issue: an image that is constantly perpetuated on society. There have been numerous studies that address our state: a preoccupation that has even included examining how satisfied we are with our lives.  The “issue” is an exhausted topic, but why? We are at a defining tipping point between the old generation and the new. Our perception and outlook of society, and the direction it’s heading towards, differs from theirs in more ways than one. Technology and modern-day communication are prominent factors that have molded us into who we are today; it’s made us both disconnected and connected to our society and the world at large.  We are subjects of an indefinite limbo status. 60% will be a re-introduction to the youth; a time capsule that will capture our pulse. APPLY NOW! ATHR-YSA.SUBMITTABLE.COM DEADLINE: 15 FEB 2015

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

Opening: Ali Ferzat & Emy Kat Solo Exhibitions

Two upcoming exhibitions this April by Ali Ferzat and Emy Kat at the Athr Art Gallery, Jeddah.

ECHOES Ali Ferzat Solo Exhibition Opening: Sunday, 13th of April, 2014 at 7.30 pm Exhibition Dates: 13 – 30 April, 2014 5th Floor, Space 01, Athr Gallery Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Let’s speak all languages ​​without a language… “The Mischievous Caricaturist”, with this description begins his journey from the city of Hama; an artist who revealed the beauty of everything around him. He comes up with an idea which in return ignites your imagination and makes you wonder if you can realize it? After a while, you begin to see the dream and fantasy turning into a reality… Since his early memory in Hama and throughout the time of publishing the independent periodical, Al-Domari “The Lamplighter”, his story has been a constant struggle that doesn’t know defeat nor does he surrender to hesitation and frustration. Even when they broke his hands to make him stop him from drawing they failed and achieved the contrary. That horrible incident didn’t hinder him, instead it fuelled him and enabled him to add more shine and glamour to his creativity and consequently kept him influential as usual. THE EVERLASTING NOW Emy Kat Solo Exhibition Opening: Sunday, 13th of April, 2014 at 7.30 pm Exhibition Dates: 13 – 30 April, 2014 RF floor, Space 02, Athr Gallery Jeddah, Saudia Arabia Mohamed Alkhatib a.k.a EMY KAT has travelled around the world in search of new and interesting heights. Living between New York, London and Paris. Alkhatib has chosen to settle in the “city of light” Paris and opened his own private studio. Always seeking to experience various ways to initiate conversations between expression and the places he has been. In  2009 he set off to rediscover his Middle Eastern heritage in his series Souls on the Streets in Marrakech. Immersed in his research, Alkhatib went back in 2011 to the main source of his enquiry, the city of his birth, Jeddah, where he grew up. He started to work on a new project supported by patrons who believed in his project, he lived in the heart of Jeddah’s Old Town (Al Balad) for three months. Like many other cities around the world that only unleash their secrets to those they love. The city was telling him about its struggle, sending signs to him like a messenger carrying its key, it displayed its beauty even though it looked abandoned, it displayed various colours, even though they seem faded, the colours forever retained their heritage. Places and light invited him to enter and whispered to him “come, get closer and immerse yourself in my beauty, that which I only show to those who seek it”. This experience produced a series of photographs, Athr Gallery presents to you, in hope to find a hint of the aforementioned beauty.

Ramadan Nights at Athr Gallery

Athr Gallery presents a live calligraphy performance, a calligraphy workshop and a group exhibition this Ramadan.

Strokes In Dialogue
Two master calligraphers
Wang Dongling & Samir Sayegh
In a live calligraphy performance
Tuesday, 23rd of July, 2013 at 10.00 PM

Show of Faith

Jeddah’s Athr Gallery goes to Doha, Qatar this month to collaborate with the city’s Katara Cultural Village on ‘Show Of Faith’, a major, multi-media group exhibition by Saudi Arabian artists opening on July 11th and running until August 31st.
 
As part of a groundswell of activity from the Saudi Arabian gallery that has seen its artists exhibit in London, Berlin, Venice and Basel in the past few months, ‘Show Of Faith’ marks Athr Gallery’s inaugural foray into the burgeoning art scene of Doha.
 
Taking its cue from the imminent Ramadan season, a time of contemplation and spiritual regeneration for Muslims worldwide, ‘Show Of Faith’ offers perspectives, insights and reflections on the essence of faith, both within the precepts and traditions of Islam, and beyond, as a universal source of sanctuary and solace.
 
‘Show Of Faith’ questions how the proximity of Mecca has affected the worldview of the artists who have grown up in the area – artists such as Ibrahim Abumsmar, Nora Alissa, Dana Awartani, Ayman Yossri Daydban, Basmah Felemban,  Musaed Al Hulis, Nasser Al Salem and Noha Al Sharif.
 
Discussing themes ranging from ritual, tradition and history to the contemporary manifestations of faith and devotion, ‘Show of Faith’ presents a broad spectrum of artistic styles and forms, that draw heavily on the geometrical abstractions of traditional Islamic art, blending smoothly with the present-day approaches and techniques.

– image and text by Athr Gallery

Prayer Rooms

Ammar Al Attar Solo Exhibition
Opening: Tuesday, 14th May 2013
7.30 PM – 9.30 PM
Athr Gallery

Exhibition Dates: 14th May – 13th June, 2013

Ammar Al Attar surveys prayer rooms across Jeddah. Mandated in public buildings by national legislation, these informal worship areas are ubiquitous, providing the faithful a place for their five prayers a day regardless of their location.

The viewer experiences the artist’s perspective of these rooms as they are. Nothing is altered or staged, not even the lighting. The authenticity of the depictions allows the series to collectively describe an engagement with a space. This uncontrived honesty towards a subject is characteristic of Al Attar’s oeuvre.

The interiors are often humble, in line with Islamic tenets and in contrast to the region’s exterior architectural opulence. Serenity and stillness are prevalent in these makeshift rooms, elevating their spatial reality as industrial caravans or rooms in malls and business centers, to that of egalitarian spiritual sanctuaries. The prayer rooms mark the passage of time directly through the ever-present, often multiple occurrence of clocks, and more imperceptibly through the awareness of the movement of the sun.

Rituals that take place before entering the rooms are inferred – ablutions and perhaps even a call to prayer. One cannot help but wonder about the individuals in these very different spaces, performing the same rites. This sense of order and togetherness offers a reprieve from the bustling chaos of urban development. Even the demarcated rows in the carpeting are a comfort.

Al Attar chronicles his surroundings and contemporary landscape, going beyond mere documentation, and engaging with issues impacting the social fabric. These empty constructs where people meet are widely scattered evidence of faith, embodying the crossover between public and private space. The locales appear obscure, but upon closer inspection provide a visual history of the artist’s rapidly developing country by presenting a cultural continuity which is rarely visible amidst overwhelming change.

About The Artist
Ammar Al Attar (1981) was born in Dubai and lives and works in Ajman. He carries a Masters in International Business from Dubai’s University of Wollongong, and a Bachelors in Business Information Technology from Dubai’s Higher Colleges of Technology. He has taken part in photography courses, both locally and internationally.

Al Attar’s series of UAE Prayer Rooms was exhibited at the 2013 Sharjah Biennial, entitled “Re:Emerge: Towards A New Cultural Cartography.” He was selected for the 2013 Artist in Residence (A.i.R.) program, a partnership between Art Dubai, London’s Delfina Foundation, the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and Tashkeel. His work has been shown throughout the UAE, and in the Thessaloniki Museum in Greece. The artist was shortlisted for the International Emerging Artist Award.

Ammar Al Attar is represented by Cuadro Fine Art Gallery in Dubai.

Video (works)

Ahmed Mater, Pelt Him!, 2012, Ed. 5 + 1 AP

Group Exhibition
Opening: Tuesday, 14th May 2013
7.30 PM – 9.30 PM
Athr Gallery

Exhibition Dates:
14th May – 13th July, 2013

Participating Artists:
Adel Abidin
Ziad Antar
Hans Op De Beeck
Ayman Yossri Daydban
Hazem Harb
Ahmed Mater
Motaz Nasr
Sami Al Turki
David Zink Yi

Since the 1960s and advancement of technology, video art has taken a prominent route to becoming a fundamental contemporary art medium. With a growing number of international and Arab artists expressing their views, Athr Gallery is proud to present Video(works), a distinctive exhibition in that it celebrates the medium of video art rather than a specific theme or topic.

This exhibition is in collaboration with Hauser & Wirth Gallery, Galleria Continua and Selma Feriani Gallery.

Image courtesy of Athr Gallery and the artist

Lecture at Athr Gallery

Coming up at Athr this Saturday.

The British Council and Athr Gallery are pleased to invite you to a  lecture on ‘The Historical and Cultural Fascination of Landscape’
By Professor David Rayson, of the Royal Academy in London.
6:00 – 7:30 PM, June 16th, 2012
at Athr Gallery
5th Floor Office Tower, Serafi Mega Mall

Please RSVP info@athrart.com
Out of Britain showcases selected works from the British Council collection by some of the most important landscape artists of the 20th century.

Above image and text reproduced from Athr’s invite and copyrighted to them.

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.