Reorient Mag: Magical Mystery Tour, Afsoon’s Atelier
Check out this fantastic article written by Joobin Bekhrad about London-based Iranian artist Afsoon’s new atelier:
http://www.reorientmag.com/2012/10/afsoon-artist-iranian/
For more details about Afsoon click here:
The Art Newspaper: Saudi Arabia breaks onto contemporary art scene
An article in ‘The Art Newspaper’ highlighting a recent, significant achievement in Saudi Arabia’s art scene: its first curated contemporary art space, due to open in Riyadh next month! Well done to Saudi Arabia for its efforts in enhancing its art scene!
Check out the Art Newspaper article here:
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Saudi-Arabia-breaks-onto-contemporary-art-scene/27026
Guardian: Former Queen of Iran on assembling Tehran’s Art Collection
The National: Line-Up for Abu Dhabi Art Revealed
An article from The National that reveals the line up of galleries participating at this year’s Abu Dhabi Art.
“Participating galleries include Ayyam Gallery, Gagosian Gallery, Galerie Brigitte Schenk, Galerie El Marsa, Hauser & Wirth, Lisson Gallery, Sfeir-Semler, The Third Line and Waterhouse & Dodd.
“You can see from the calibre of galleries we have again this year that it was a difficult decision to select a small number from the exceptional submissions, to fit with our boutique platform,” said the event’s executive director Rita Aoun-Abdo.” (From the article cited below)
Check out the full article here:
http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/art/line-up-for-abu-dhabi-art-revealed
Basel Fair Salutes the Rising Influence of Middle East Art Scene
Art Basel takes place this week and this year’s art fair includes Dubai’s Green Art Gallery and Gallery IVDE. I will be heading there tomorrow and will be covering Middle Eastern art at this year’s fair. Below is an article from the NYT regarding Middle Eastern art being exhibited at Basel:
“The inclusion of the galleries, both from Dubai, has signaled for many a sign of the maturation of the Middle Eastern art scene and its increasing global presence. “The fact that you have two galleries from the U.A.E. points to the growth of the region in terms of its artists, galleries, institutions and private collectors,” said Marc Spiegler, co-director of Art Basel, which opens Thursday and runs through June 17.
Green Art Gallery and Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde are exhibiting in Art Statements, a sector for emerging talent that has catapulted artists like William Kentridge, Takashi Murakami and Elizabeth Peyton to international acclaim. Galleries in this section are selected by the Art Basel committee based on the strength of a proposed project featuring a single artist. ” (from the article cited below)
Read the full article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/arts/13iht-rartdubai13.html
The Economist: Art in the Middle East: An Avenue of Free Expression
An article in The Economist discussing some of the more controversial artworks at this year’s Art Dubai:
“Perhaps surprisingly, it is in countries with especially severe regimes, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, where the art is the most clever and interesting. It is also where the women, so often characterised as mute and oppressed, are finding their voice through art. They may not be able to vote, drive a car or wear what they like, but there is nothing to stop them from making art at home. Women artists in Saudi Arabia are now estimated to outnumber the men. In addition, women are among the biggest patrons and collectors of Middle Eastern art. Many have the top jobs running new art museums and festivals springing up in such places as Qatar and Abu Dhabi…’ (from article cited below)
Check out the full article here:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/04/art-middle-east
NYT: Creating a Place for Contemporary Art
A New York Times article highlighting this year’s Art Dubai:
“For Mr. Rais, who is considered one of the Emirates’ pioneering artists, the local and regional art movement has come a long way. He believes it has been accelerated primarily by the cultural momentum gained as a result of high-profile museums and events such as Art Dubai, which featured more than 70 international galleries in its 2012 edition that concluded last week.
“Before 2000, art was limited to the elite families,” he said. “Families generally discouraged their children from pursuing art as a career. However, from 2006 onwards, the exposure has increased because of the overall culture movement in the region and the resulting jobs, which has allowed families to be more accepting and understanding of art.” (from the website cited below)
The Daily Star: AUB acquires Saleeby art collection
An article in the Daily Star discussing the recent donation of more than 60 paintings by early 20th century Lebanese artists to the American University in Beirut . This is great news for the region! It is one of the Middle East’s most significant contributions of a private collection to the general public. This is one of the first steps in Lebanon to create a public space where anyone can appreciate art outside of a commercial space. This space will allow the public to become more aware of some of Lebanon’s most beautiful artworks. This is another positive step in Beirut’s flourishing art scene.
“The American University of Beirut announced Thursday that it has secured a donation of over 60 paintings, most from the early 20th century and more than 30 of them by the renowned Lebanese artist Khalil Saleeby (1870-1928). The collection, which has never been exhibited to the public, has been donated by a distant relative of Saleeby. Khalil Saleeby is regarded to be among Lebanon’s earliest impressionists, and thus a founder of modern art in Lebanon. He studied, worked and exhibited in Edinburgh, Paris and the U.S. as well as in Lebanon. He knew and was influenced by such significant European artists as John Singer Sargent, Pierre Cecile Puvis de Chavannes and Pierre Auguste Renoir.
““We are also proud to have practicing artists amongst our students, faculty and alumni. This collection forms a vital part of Lebanon’s and the Arab world’s cultural heritage and we consider it a privilege to preserve and promote it for the benefit of future generations. Not only will the collection enable a public art exhibition but it will also serve as a unique resource for students, researchers and art specialists.”” (from the article cited below)
Read the full article here:
The Art Newspaper: Contemporary Art Show in Saudi Arabia Could Herald a New Movement
An article on http://www.theartnewspaper.com discussing the Edge of Arabia show that is currently taking place in Jeddah.
“Organised by Edge of Arabia, an independent arts initiative, “We Need to Talk” (until 18 February) features more than 40 pieces by 22 young Saudi artists, almost half of them women, and includes videos, sculpture and photography from the likes of Abdulnasser Gharem, Ahmed Mater and Manal Al-Dowayan. Most of these artists have shown together over the past three-and-a-half years in London, Venice, Berlin, Istanbul and Dubai, but never before in Saudi Arabia. Could an exhibition like this have been staged in Jeddah ten years ago? “Of course not,” said the show’s curator Mohammed Hafiz, “because we didn’t have the artists, we didn’t have the works of art… there are many elements.”
One of these elements was a degree of indifference or suspicion displayed back then towards contemporary art. Now, members of the Saudi royal family, including the participating artist, Princess Jowhara Al Saud, as well as legions of young art fans packed the opening. A smattering of non-Saudis were also there, including photographer Wolf gang Tillmans, Jack Persekian, the former director of the Sharjah Art Foundation, Antonia Carver, the director of Art Dubai, and the following day Chris Dercon, the director of Tate Modern, took a spin round the show, later describing the artists involved as “true intellectuals with a great eye for form and immanence”. (from article cited below)
Click here for the full article:
Gulf News: Iraqi art and artists celebrated in new book
A Gulf News article that talks about a new book highlighting over 4o years of modern Iraqi art. The book, which is published by Skira publishing in collaboration with Meem Gallery, is one of the most significant publications ever made on Iraqi art.
“The event showcased important paintings and sculptures featured in the book, spanning more than 40 years from the late 1960s until 2010, and a musical band playing traditional Iraqi tunes, including the famous Maqam, set the perfect background for the exhibition and book launch.
Majeed Jafar, chief executive of Crescent Petroleum, said Art in Iraq Today is a unique book which brings together a group of Iraqi artists with varying methodologies, but who are united in their experience of exile after having spent their formative years as artists in Iraq.” (quoted from the article cited below)
Click here to read the full article:
The Art Newspaper: Art on Shifting Sands
An article on The Art Newspaper’s website discussing the ‘cultural success’ of this year’s Abu Dhabi Art.
“So how was last month’s Abu Dhabi Art, run by the Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), which is responsible for a housing and tourism development that includes the future museums? As a cultural event, which is what Abu Dhabi Art aims to be, this looked like the most successful so far. The move from the Emirates Palace Hotel, a pompous gilded and marble building, to the UAE pavilion, brought back from Shanghai after the World Expo 2010, and next to the Manarat al Saadiyat, an already popular exhibition and meeting place, completely changed its atmosphere. The great majority of dealers thought it was an improvement, Emirati and other families poured in, the restaurant worked overtime, and the lectures were well attended. A busy children’s zone with clean pinnies for all was staffed by dozens of painting teachers bussed down from a studio project in Dubai. A huge success was the photo booth by the street artist JR, which spewed out poster-size portraits to stick up around the Manarat. Everyone could identify with the “Emirati Expressions” exhibition, which showed photographs of the Gulf by the American master of the informal shot, Stephen Shore, and by his Emirati pupils, with some stylish, ironical pictures about Abu Dhabi’s love of extreme landscaping by the Palestinian-Kuwaiti, Tarek al Ghoussein. In a night-time maze of art, performance and film, orchestrated by Fabrice Bousteau, I saw a brilliant danced impersonation of a chicken. ” (from website cited below)
Check out the full article here: http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Art-on-shifting-sands/25131
NYT: Iranians Shine, Assisted by Expatriate
A 2009 New York Times article that documents the rise of Iranian art in New York City, with the help of Leila Heller, owner of the Leila Heller Gallery.
“In recent months biennials around the world have dedicated special sections to a hot new field: Middle Eastern artists. And many of the most celebrated hail from Iran, like Farhad Moshiri of Tehran, whose paintings covered with Swaroski crystal-encrusted calligraphy have brought $1 million-plus at auction, or Shirin Neshat of New York, widely acclaimed since the late 1990s for her films and videos featuring veiled women.
IN recent months biennials around the world have dedicated special sections to a hot new field: Middle Eastern artists. And many of the most celebrated hail from Iran, like Farhad Moshiri of Tehran, whose paintings covered with Swaroski crystal-encrusted calligraphy have brought $1 million-plus at auction, or Shirin Neshat of New York, widely acclaimed since the late 1990s for her films and videos featuring veiled women.” (from NYT article cited below)
Check out the full article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/arts/design/16kino.html
Gulf Today: Non-Profit Offers Platform to Promote Art, Support Education
An article in Gulf Today discusses the launch of a new non-profit dedicated to promoting Middle Eastern art and education throughout the region and beyond. The organization, which is based in Dubai, will launch its first project, ‘The Iraqi Art Project’ on December 9.
“DUBAI: In the Frame (ITF), a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of the arts in the Middle East for the benefit of philanthropic and educational causes in the region, will launch in Dubai.
ITF, which was created by Noor Kadhim and Khatija Sacranie, was conceptualised as a platform to enable and promote Arab and Eastern artistic expression of all genres. ITF will coordinate projects in support of educational initiatives in the Middle East and North Africa. ITF’s launch project is the Iraqi Art Project.
MF focuses on funding investments in arts, education, community development, and volunteering in the Middle East and North Africa region.” (from article cited below)
Read the full article here:
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/7f7c122a-f764-40b3-89ba-55cff03197bd.aspx
Daily Star: Sursock Museum to Reopen its Doors in 2012
An article in the Daily Star that discusses the reopening of Beirut’s Sursock Museum in 2012 after a $12-14 million renovation.
“The whole building was about 1,500 square meters and now we are adding more than 7,500 square meters but all underground,” explained Jacques Aboukhaled of JA Designs, chief architect behind the project in collaboration with French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte.
The project was launched in 2000, but because of delays such as the 2006 war, groundbreaking only took place in 2008. The renovation will add four underground floors to the museum below the courtyard area in front of the building. In addition to parking for museum staff and the technical staging and storage facilities for the collection, new public areas being built include a 160-seat auditorium and a 600-square-meter room for the museum’s main temporary exhibitions.” (from article below)
To read the full article click here:
Euro News: Lebanese Art Showcases rich and complex History
An article and video showcasing APEAL’s latest exhibition of contemporary Lebanese art in London
“APEAL’s president Rita Nammour commented that “ we’ve been rebuilding Lebanon; Beirut is being rebuilt. But I think the cultural reconstruction of Lebanon is extremely important. Art is a way to get our young people get together and get beyond our cultural and religious differences.”
“The main reason behind creation of APEAL is projecting the cultural image of Lebanon. It’s also promoting young talents beyond conventional borders and onto larger screens. It’s helping them expose themselves outside Lebanon. It’s also commissioning public art.” (from the article cited below)
Check out the full article and accompanying video here:
CNN: Don’t pigeonhole us, say Saudi Women Artists
An interesting article by CNN that discusses the complex situation Saudi female artists find themselves in:
“Al Faisal, a photographer, has another reason for being wary of people’s expectations: She is a princess, a granddaughter of the first king of Saudi Arabia. She avoids being photographed or showing her face in interviews to allow her to travel the world anonymously without bodyguards.
Her work has taken her to China, Japan, India, Europe, America and all around the Middle East, capturing striking black-and-white photographs of people and landscapes.
Al Homoud, a single mother who brought up her two sons in London, creates abstract art, often geometric black-and-white drawings.
She said: “People kind of concentrate on you and give you more attention because you have female Saudi artists, but it’s kind of upsetting because it’s related to stereotype, and I think what we are doing is changing this stereotype.”" (from the CNN article cited below)
Check out the CNN article here:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/08/world/meast/saudi-women-artists/
The Guardian: 10 of the best Exhibitions at the Istanbul Biennal
The Guardian lists the 10 best exhibitions at this year’s Istanbul Biennal
“Twenty years ago it was nowhere; now Istanbul is up there with Venice and São Paulo as an art city. Istanbul’s rapid rise has been fuelled by the extraordinary generosity of a handful of patrons in a country where traditionally artists could rely on nothing but censure. The latest of the city’s new private museums, the Borusan Contemporary (borusan.com) opened this weekend. Even Nobel-prize-winning writer Orhan Pamuk has been bitten by the bug: he is working on a Museum of Innocence, based on his novel of the same name.
This year’s biennial, (iksv.org/en), already hailed as Istanbul’s best, takes its themes from five key works by the late Cuban-American artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres, whose minimalist installations carried a deeply emotional political charge. It’s concentrated in warehouses (antrepo) next to Istanbul Modern, where five group shows and more than 50 solo shows are woven together by Japanese architect Ryue Nishizawa’s elegant design, itself worth the trip.” (from the article cited below)
Check out the article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/sep/21/istanbul-biennial-2011-modern-art?newsfeed=true
BBC: Banners win Jameel prize at V&A
Congratulations to the great Algerian artist Rachid Koraichi for winning this year’s Jameel prize!
Check out this BBC article discusses the event:
“Koraichi’s winning work consisted of embroidered banners inscribed with Arabic symbols and ciphers. Entitled Les Maitres Invisibles (The Invisible Masters), the series is a tribute to 14 mystic personalities from the Islamic world.” (from the article cited below)
Check out the full article here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14888744
Time: Arab Art Finally Gets the Showcase it Deserves
An article from Time discussing the rising prominence of Middle Eastern art, and how the industry has witnessed a commercial boom in the region. It is very significant that Middle Eastern art has been featured in such a widely-read publication. It only goes to show that the region’s art scene is attracting world wide interest. This has a great part to do with the Mathaf Museum which has given the region’s art scene a strong support system! Thank you Mathaf!
“If you were seeking the spirit of Picasso in the Middle East, you could study the work of Jawad Selim (1919-1961) and conclude that you had found it. Like many artists of his time, the grandfather of Iraqi modernism was influenced by the Spaniard’s Cubism and geometric figures. But Selim was equally, if not more, inspired by Sumerian art, which also rendered subjects in stylized ways. In a work like Baghdadiat (1956), a lively streetscape, it’s impossible to tell where modernism begins and the traditional forms of ancient Mesopotamia end.
“The exhibition comes at a boom time for art in the Gulf, where petrodollars are being poured into a state-led artistic arms race. In Abu Dhabi, an $800 million Frank Gehry — designed branch of the Guggenheim and a satellite of the Louvre, by Jean Nouvel, are being built. In Qatar, a Nouvel-designed museum of local history is in the works. “Commerce has come,” Mikdadi says. “Now art and academia need to catch up.” (from article cited below)
For the full article click here:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2088014,00.html
The Daily Star: Human Nature and the Art Market
A great article in the Daily Star discussing both the growth of Middle Eastern art and Lebanon’s art scene.
“A clear sign that things have changed, and changed dramatically, was the sale of Ayman Baalbaki’s “Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom,” for a whopping $206,500 this April. An oil painting on floral upholstery fabric, adorned with glass, copper sheeting and a light box, the work was completed just months before it appeared on the auction block at Christie’s in Dubai. Baalbaki, moreover, at 36 years old, straddles the line between conceptual and commercial, and staged his first solo major exhibition, at the Agial Art Gallery, in 2006. What happened?
Five years ago, when the international auction house Christie’s made the audacious and bewildering decision to set up an office, establish a sales room and hold regular auctions in Dubai, its initial offerings of Arab art were padded by Indian and Iranian works that often out-performed their west Asian counterparts.” (from the article cited below)
Check out the full article here:
The National: Art museum to open in Dubai to counter dearth of cultural knowledge
An article by ‘The National’ highlighting the opening of the new Salsali Private Museum opening in Dubai’s Al Qouz district this September. It is being opened by Iranian art collector Ramin Salsali, and will showcase parts of his collection, as well as other works.
“Yet it was the lack of knowledge about the Middle Eastern art world among visitors that was one of the factors that made Salsali decide the UAE needed a museum.
“Dubai became my second home and I developed patriotic feelings for it,” he says. “So I suffered very much when I heard comments from my European friends who came here for a holiday. All of them complained about one issue – they said, ‘What can you do in Dubai except go to the beach or shopping, where is the culture here?’ ”" (taken from the article cited below)
Great job Mr. Salsali!
The Daily Star: What you see isn’t always what you get
A Daily Star article discussing Lebanese artist Jean Marc Nahas’ latest exhibition at Gemmayzeh’s Ginette Concept Store.
“Nahas is a dynamic, constantly thinking Lebanese man who, like many of us, is haunted by traumatizing memories – whether related to the Civil War or not. He explained how he always takes peoples’ comments (whether on his work or not, complimentary or otherwise) into consideration.
Though inspired from the revolutionary events in Cairo and the wider Middle East since the start of this year Nahas’ “Tahrir” (190×100 cm) also reflects his personal perception of what is happening in the region and, more particularly, among Middle Eastern women. In this drawing, mixed with blotches of red, blue and yellow paint, the spectator faces a confusing, lunatic representation of the female figure.” (from article below)
Check out the full article here:
NYT: From a New Generation of Artists, Vivid Canvases of Iraq’s Pain
A New York Times article discussing how Iraqi artists have increasingly been creating work that is reflective and representative of the death and violence that has plagued their homeland. The article states that Iraqi artists find it impossible to ignore their violent surroundings, and find it difficult to create scenes of peace and beauty while they are surrounded by bloodshed.
“A new generation of Iraqi artists, one molded by bloodshed and occupation, is finding its voice in a place reshaped by eight years of war. They grew up under Saddam Hussein and stayed in Iraq through the killing and mayhem that scattered hundreds of Iraq’s most prominent artists into exile in Europe, Jordan and America. “Young Iraqis are able to create a new kind of painting to fill this vacuum,” said Mohammed al-Kanani, the head of Iraq’s high committee for the arts. “They are a window.”
But they are straining against the same forces that stifled a youth-led protest movement earlier this year: a calcified political and social elite that wants to control the country’s narrative. While the fall of Mr. Hussein gave artists a new freedom to paint what they want, including once-forbidden political subjects, the artists say they are still rebuked, even sometimes intimidated, by the artistic and political establishment for expressing a grim vision of Iraq. Their elders would prefer them to avoid uncomfortable subjects like the corruption and violence that continues to plague the country.” (from the article cited below)
Check out the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/19/world/asia/19iraq.html?_r=1
Daily Star: Industrial Warehouse Zone turns Underground Art Scene
A Daily Star article discussing the rise of Dubai’s Al-Quoz district into a flourishing center of art. This area was previously an industrial zone, and has made a remarkable transformation.
“Al-Quoz, home to stark warehouses and a huge cement factory in the shadow of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, is a far cry from the glitz and glamour that has come to be associated with Dubai.
“It’s raw. It’s a clean plate that we can work on. This is a growing cultural hub, a warehouse district where the ceilings are high and rents are low,” said Rami Farook, founder of the Traffic gallery, where Emirati, Iranian and Saudi artists show works ranging from graffiti art to blaring video installations.” (cited from article below)
Check out the article here:
NYT: East in the Eye of this Beholder
A New York Times article discussing the work of Persian artist Kamrooz Aram
“Mr. Aram did not discover Said’s book until college, but it has been pivotal for his art. (So has the Iranian revolution, although he has lived in the United States since he was 8 and prefers not to discuss his background.) The imagery in his paintings shifts between Giotto angels and Shia imams, the flying carpets in video games and the magical space of Persian miniatures.
In Mr. Aram’s most recent work the floral and geometric motifs of his earlier paintings have given way to charged, sometimes divisive symbols: hawks, angels and mosque architecture. Often these forms have multiple meanings. Birds, for instance, might refer to American nationalism or to the tradition of falconry, as depicted in Islamic art.” (From the article cited below)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/arts/design/22rose.html
ArtInfo: Picasso May Visit Palestine With Loan of $7 Million Cubist Painting to the West Bank
An ArtInfo article discussing the potential acquisition of Picasso’s ‘Buste de Femme’ painted in 1943 for an exhibition at the International Academy of Art in Palestine. It is valued at $7 million.
“The Palestinian Territories may soon be paid a visit by a $7 million painting by Pablo Picasso, the first work by the artist — and the most valuable work by any artist — ever to be displayed in the West Bank. According to the Associated Press, however, the logistics of safely transporting the 1943 Cubist “Buste de Femme” through Israeli checkpoints and into the conflict zone will be exceedingly difficult, and may ultimately prove impossible. The loan would also place the work in the midst of a violently unstable region, where actor and cultural activist Juliano Mer Khamis was murdered earlier this week.” (from the article below)
Check out the article below:
The National: Art Bidding for Beginners
A great article from the National providing instructions on how to register at auctions, as well as giving some useful bidding advice. The article also provides some information on upcoming Dubai exhibitions, and some very interesting past auction results. Offers great tips to any first time bidders!
“Dubai’s next sale is on Tuesday, when Christie’s will auction a broad range of modern and contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish art in the Godolphin ballroom at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel, and it will be equally accessible.
Although the top lot might be out of reach to the average beginner – Fishing, a 1957 painting by the Egyptian modern artist Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar, is expected to fetch between $250,000 and $350,000 – with prices ranging from $2,000 to $3,000 expected to be achieved for an untitled fibreglass sculpture by the Iranian contemporary artist Nastaran Safaei, there is plenty to tempt the first-time buyer.” (Quote from article below)
Click here to read the article:
http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/personal-finance/art-bidding-for-beginners?pageCount=0
LA Times: Iranian artists inspired by adversity
A Los Angeles Times article discussing Iranian artists and their impact on the Middle Eastern art scene. It goes on to discuss their relationship with their homeland, and introduces several famous Iranian artists.
“Hassanzadeh, 46, is among the most successful of a new crop of artists in Iran who seamlessly meld East and West, even as they breezily blend Iran’s traditions, both hokey and classical, religious and secular, and its recent history, especially the traumas of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, into the idioms of high art.
Although they’ve made a modest splash on the international circuit, they choose to remain in their homeland to feed off its ancient inspirations despite the challenges, including a new rule that requires artists to send photos of their works to the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance for clearance before sending them abroad. This work is being noticed; for instance, a show of new work by 30 Iranian artists recently opened at Los Angeles’ Morono Kiang gallery and is running simultaneously with a show of the artists’ work at Tehran’s Aaran Gallery.” (taken from article below)
Check out the article below:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-iran-artists-20110327,0,4729127,full.story
Bloomberg: Billionaires Splash Out on Middle-East Art as Dubai Fair Grows
A Bloomberg article discussing this year’s Art Dubai. Sales at this year’s event significantly increased, as did attendance with over 20,000 visitors! 40 pieces over $100,000 were sold at the event.
“Art Dubai is a meeting point for the international and Middle Eastern art communities,” Antonia Carver, Art Dubai’s director, said. “Dubai historically has been important as a trading point for the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Now, the same thing is happening for contemporary art.
Traffic Gallery of Dubai reported 40 works sold for a total of more than $100,000. One of Ahmed Mater’s “Evolution of Man” series (2010) was bought by a Saudi collector for $30,000 just before the fair opened. The light-box work shows a gasoline pump morphing into the X-rayed skeleton of a human holding a gun to his head” (from article cited below)
Check out the bloomberg article below:
The Telegraph: 80 galleries from LA to Bejing are going to Art Dubai
A Telegraph article discussing the upcoming Art Dubai. This is the largest Art Dubai yet with over 80 galleries participating. 35 of the 80 galleries have never participated at Art Dubai before. I am heading there next week and will be covering it for the blog.
“He will, however, see some changes. After four years running the fair, fellow London dealer John Martin has stepped down, and has been succeeded by Antonia Carver, a former arts journalist who has lived in Dubai for nine years working as both editor of the local arts magazine, Bidoun, and as the Middle East correspondent for The Art Newspaper. Carver has not only contacts but a developed understanding of the region’s art. She also understands how Art Dubai strives to be a vital cultural meeting point between East and West.
This is no longer a pipe dream. In Abu Dhabi, the £17 billion arts and culture project that will house local Louvre and Guggenheim museums is under way and will be completed in the next two to three years, and a rival art fair has sprung up, attracting some of the world’s biggest galleries. Museums are also sprouting up in Qatar, where the 2022 World Cup is to be held, attracting international attention. Underlining the collaborative spirit that exists between these cultural hot-spots, Art Dubai’s discussion programme begins at the newly opened Mathaf museum for modern Arab art in Doha.” (taken from the article cited below)
Check out the article below:
WSJ: Painting the Middle East With Too Broad a Brush?
A Wall Street Journal article discussing what it means to be an arab artist today, and how Qatar is helping shape that identity
“The exhibition is based on 20 years of acquisitions by Sheikh Hassan, another member of the al-Thani family, who has given his collection to the museum. It goes some way to show the development of an Arab sensibility from the days when the artists of the region, such as the Egyptian Georges Sabbagh (1887-1951) and the Lebanese Saliba Douaihy (1915-1994), would travel to Paris to learn about European art. There is a nod to Cubism here, to Impressionism there, and examples of abstract art influenced by the likes of Joan Miró. Much of the work is figurative, with depictions of life in souks and cafés, of scenes of music and dance.
In fact, the works have been installed not chronologically but by theme, under headings such as “Nature,” “Family” and “City.” Those that appear under “Society” and “Struggle” tend to be the more recent, the most political and striking. In a coda to the exhibition, paintings by artists who fled Iraq and settled in Doha in the past two decades—such as Ala Bashir, Mahmoud Al-Obaidi and Hazar Yahya—are overtly, bitterly political, few more so than Ismail Fattah’s trio of men, one holding a bloodied dove.” (from article below)
Check out the article below:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703775704576162773467414218.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
NYT: Building Museums, and a Fresh Arab Identity
A New York Times article discussing how Abu Dhabi and Qatar are attracting famous museums and institutions from around the world. The article goes on to discuss how hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on building these museums.
“Here, on a barren island on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, workers have dug the foundations for three colossal museums: an $800 millionFrank Gehry-designed branch of the Guggenheim 12 times the size of its New York flagship; a half-billion-dollar outpost of theLouvre by Jean Nouvel; and a showcase for national history by Foster & Partners, the design for which was unveiled on Thursday. And plans are moving ahead for yet another museum, about maritime history, to be designed byTadao Ando.
Nearly 200 miles across the Persian Gulf, Doha, the capital of Qatar, has been mapping out its own extravagant cultural vision. A Museum of Islamic Art, a bone-white I. M. Pei-designed temple, opened in 2008 and dazzled the international museum establishment. In December the government will open a museum of modern Arab art with a collection that spans the mid-19th-century to the present. Construction has just begun on a museum of Qatari history, also by Mr. Nouvel, and the design for a museum of Orientalist art by the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron is to be made public next year.” (from article below)
Check out the article below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/arts/design/27museums.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
NYT: Face of War Pervades New Beirut Art Center
An article discussing the significance of the Beirut Art Center and its exhibition on the Lebanese Civil War.
“Along the Beirut River just outside of the city center is an industrial neighborhood of small warehouses and factories, car dealerships and crumbling, squat buildings that bear the scars of bullets from Lebanon’s wars. It is a place, in other words, that would be the perfect home for the art galleries of Chelsea or the meatpacking district — and, indeed, where a cultural space that would be the envy of New York has come to life.” (from article below)
Check out the article below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/arts/design/07center.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
It really is great Beirut has a space like the Beirut Art Center. It is the first of its kind in Beirut, and its significance on the Lebanese art scene can not go unnoticed. Great job to all those that took part in the planning, setting up, and funding of this art center.
What do you think: should Lebanese art centers and galleries have exhibitions on past wars or is it best not to make art out of war?
NYT: Painting a Picture of Exile
A New York Times article discussing how members of the Lebanese Diaspora are increasingly establishing themselves in the international art scene. It also discusses how many of these artists have a constant connection to their home country and often reflect Lebanon into their work.
“In France, the Lebanese community numbers about 100,000, including some 80 established artists who, he said, are receiving increasing international attention. Several, including the photographers Lamia Joreige and Akram Zaatari, were among those chosen for Lebanon’s first ever Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2007. Paris-based photographers were also well represented in the Arab Image Foundation’s display at this year’s Paris Photo fair.” (from website below)
Check out the article below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/arts/28iht-rcartleb.html?_r=1
NYT: Art Fair Illustrates Abu Dhabi’s Commitment to Culture
A New York Times article discussing how Abu Dhabi is increasingly focusing on art and culture in the Middle East.
““Abu Dhabi Art is part of a greater vision to build transnational cultural institutions to ensure that the Arab world is not isolated,” said Rita Aoun Abdo, director of the cultural department of Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development and Investment Co.,”
Check it out here:
NYT: Damascus Evolves Into a Hub of Mideast Art:
Great and informative article about how the art scene in Damascus has picked up significantly in the last 5 years. Galleries popping up everywhere, prices increasing, greater awareness for art!
A quick read full of interesting facts, including: a Fateh Moudarres painting bought for $125 in 1985 now valued at $300,000. A sign of the flourishing art scene in the Middle East.
Fateh Moudarres’s beautiful work has elevated him to become one of the masters of Middle Eastern art. Do you agree? What characteristics of his work do you think appeals the global audience?
Check it out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/arts/27iht-scdamascus.html?_r=1
NYT: ‘Passion Investments’ Capture Hearts in Mideast:
Great NYT article on how regional banks are encouraging their Middle Eastern clients to start investing in art. Emirates NBD (an Emirati bank) has even introduced an art fund. The article goes on to mention that the Middle East art market is currently valued at a staggering $10 billion, with high future growth predicted! Great news for the art scene in the region!
“With the arrival of new museum complexes in Abu Dhabi and the developments in Kuwait and Qatar, we are seeing the Middle East going from a very low spending profile in the arts to a very high one, possibly overtaking the biggest collectors in the world in terms of spending on art…” (NYT article cited below)
What do you think? Does it sound like a safer investment than stocks?
Take a look at the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/world/middleeast/03iht-M03BART.html
We want to thank the NYT for putting the spotlight on Middle Eastern art. Their articles have been very informative, and are helping promote Middle Eastern art to the world.
AB.com: Christie’s nets $14m in Middle East art auction:
ArabianBusiness.com’s article on Christie’s Dubai auction of Middle Eastern art that netted $14 million. Most expensive Middle Eastern painting ever sold fetched a staggering $2.5 million and was painted by Egyptian artist Mahmoud Said:
(from article cited below):
“”In one year Christie’s Dubai achieved a 117 percent increase in the sale of contemporary Middle Eastern art,” said Michael Jeha, managing director, Christie’s, Middle East.”
Check out the article below:
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/christie-s-nets-14m-in-middle-east-art-auction-358409.htm
CNN: Megabucks sex up Middle East art explosion:
CNN.com article about increase in art spending and collecting in Arab World
“For many it also represents a wider trend that sees the Middle East coming of age as a global powerhouse of art patronage; a rite of passage that is also fueling a scramble by auction houses for a share of the cash.
“There have been people collecting from the region for many years, but there has been a perfect storm happening in the last decade,” says Antonia Carver, director of Art Dubai, the region’s largest cultural expo.” (from article below)
Check it out:
DW: Contemporary art from Syria finds favor with intnl. buyers:
Deutsche Welle’s article on the flourishing Syrian art scene. The article discusses the increased foreign interest in Syrian art, and how Syria’s increasing openness to the global market has helped shape the local art scene.
Excerpts from the article:
“”Over the past four years, the average price of a medium-sized work has appreciated 400 percent, ” said Khaled Samawi, owner and founder of Ayyam Gallery, located on the chic Chile Street in Damascus. “Today, they would sell for between $10,000 and $15,000 apiece.””
“Several high-end contemporary art galleries have opened in Damascus in the past five years, and their connections to affluent international collectors and auction houses have opened new and unprecedented channels for Syrian art. This has triggered a major boost in the value of the country’s fine art.” (from article below)
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5493328,00.html
Kudos to Damascus for greatly enhancing their art scene.
Spiegel: New Life Stirring in Arab Cultural Capital:
This article from Der Spiegel highlights Iraq’s increasingly flourishing art scene.
“Fadaam has high hopes for the new generation of Iraqis, those currently at art school. “There are a few genuine talents studying out there,” he says. In a few years these up-and-comers will hopefully breathe some new life into the Iraqi art scene, turning Baghdad back into a cultural metropolis once again. Fadaam believes that the state of art is closely linked with the country’s own future. “If the situation improves, if young people can express love and happiness in their work, then not only does Iraqi art have a future, but also Iraq itself,” he concludes.”
Check out the article below:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,690433,00.html
How can we add an artist?
Hello. Thank you for taking interest in this blog. To submit details of a potential artist please email me at: artofthemideast@gmail.com
Best,
Taymour