CONNECTING DOTS AT THE SHARJAH ART FOUNDATION
Leila and Fatima Sharjah Art Foundation Selfie
This weekend Fatima el Malki and I took a road trip over to visit the Sharjah Art Foundation to check out Yayoi Kusama's Dot Obsessions.
" AFTER ALL, WELL, MOON IS A POLKA DOT, SUN IS A POLKA DOT, AND THEN THE EARTH WHERE WE LIVE IS ALSO A POLKA DOT." - YAYOI KUSAMA
Art Dubai, Al Serkal and events such as Art Nights in the DIFC have done an amazing job to promote culture exchange and have put Dubai in the map, but we particularly enjoyed the less pretentious environment in Sharjah, where we got to engage and have fun in our interaction with the art.
SUN LADY, Studio Mwahib, El Obeid © Fouad Hamza Tibin / Elnour
I loved the Vintage photography display particularly this 1975 PORTRAIT SEEN AT THE KHARTOUM SCHOOL Exhibition: The Making of the modern art movement in Sudan ( 1945- present).
The Assumption of Weee, 2014, Courtesy Michael Werner Gallery, London and New York
I asked Fatima who’s a digital media strategist and also very much immersed in the art world to share her thoughts on the Foundation visit.
"A tumultuous drive from Dubai to Sharjah ( mostly because of Leila's driving) is the only downside when the destination is the Sharjah Art Foundation. My best recollection of discovering Sharjah was driving up to an enclave belonging to the emirate on the east coast of the UAE, where Andrián Villar Roja's installation Planetarium was stationed at the abandoned Kalba IceFactory as part of Sharjah Biennial 12 (2015).
It is exhibitions such as Enrico David's Fault Work that make up for the somewhat shaky commute to Sharjah by tenfold. The space housing the show with its floor-to-ceiling windows welcomes a beacon of light that crash onto the gorgeous metal sculptures and colorful wool tapestries. A delight to take in when looking for an escape from the bustling city life in Dubai."
Enrico David: Fault Work - Exhibiting for the first time in the region, this Italian artist who is based in London showcases, metal sculptures and large scale wall tapestries.
Fatima randomly shot The Photo below at the exhibition titled "Women in Crystal Cubes" and whats so interesting, is that the subject is in fact the artist Kamala Ibrahim Ishaq, herself which we found out later.
http://sharjahart.org/sharjah-art-foundation/exhibitions/kamala-ishaq
The installation below, another highlight for us, is an outdoor site specific mixed media work by Bassem Yousri titled " I Am Serious!"