Saudi Arabia recently witnessed the inauguration of the region’s contemporary art fair Solos, which is scheduled to go on till December 20. The exhibit features 12 artists, namely Heba Abed, Khaled Bin Afif, Mohammad Bahrawi, Najlaa Felemban, Samer Al Halaki, Ali Al Hassan, a couple Hassan Khan and Ibtesam Gazder, Saud Mahjoub, Saad Bin Mohammad, Hamad Al Saab, Itab Al Sheikh and Sara Al Sudairy.
The exhibition is a first for many of the featured artists, who expressed their joy over being given the chance to utilise the platform for artistic expression. Saad, whose gallery is named ‘Behind the curtains’, explained the vision behind his showcase. “From the beginning, we hide behind the curtains under many names: body, ideology, morals, habits, boundaries etc. We all have our curtains whether we agree or disagree. What matters, is, that we hide what we don’t want others to see,” he said.
He termed the art fair a unique opportunity to depict the artists’ perception of the world around them. He was in high spirits because of the positive feedback he has received from the audiences so far. “Some of them, whom I knew for long, have turned 180 degrees when they stood in front of my paintings. They turn to see the third dimension of the art and I believe this is a major success,” he shared. “I succeeded in delivering my point to the people. They can also see my books, videos and music. They can see a piece of me and I hope they enjoy it,” he said.
Saud chose the name ‘Noiselessness’ for his gallery, citing the turmoil that has enveloped the Arab world and questioning whether it will ever come to an end. Khaled and Heba’s gallery names are ‘The first scene: Not yet’ and ‘The Scotoma of Mudéjares’, respectively. In her previous project, Heba had explored the concept of the randomisation of the Arabic script. This time, she sheds light on the cultural scotoma by using historical images to depict how Arabic script is gradually becoming foreign.
The couple, Hassan and Ibtesam, has named their gallery ‘Seduction’. Their project presents a big set of fish structures that lead to a big, black coloured fish with large teeth. The duo has made creative use of the glue gun in their project, depicting how temptations ultimately lead to an unexpected end.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2014.
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