When most people think Dubai, they think money, flash, grandeur and excess. In fact, there is a theory that the word Dubai literally means “money” – from an old Arabic proverb, "Daba Dubai,” which translates to, “They came with a lot of money.” However, over the last few years, Dubai has become a major force in the art world with galleries, such as our friends at Carbon 12, that are popping up in the industrial region of Dubai known as Al Quoz. Click here to read more.
Dreams In Blue: Read Our Interview With Artist and Painter Phillip Mueller On The Eve Of His Solo Show At Carbon 12 Gallery In Dubai →
Viennese artist Phillip Mueller’s art is mythical, fantastical and deranged. It exists on a plane somewhere between Hieronymus Bosch splashed with modern pop references, Thomas Kinkade on acid and a print out from your brain of a recurring nightmare. However, there is also something so sweet, alluring and romantic about his work. Mueller, whose solo show opens tonight at Carbon 12 Gallery in Dubai, is a genuine painter and he is studious about his work. In a world devoid of figurative meaning in painting, Mueller uses his paint and brushes almost like a protest, and the depth of his work is a war against contemporary’s artist stodginess. Click here to read more.
Artist Sarah Rahbar at Carbon 12 Dubai's Booth At the 2015 NADA Art Fair
Artist Sarah Rahbar at Carbon 12 Dubai's booth at the 2015 NADA art fair. photograph by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
Highlights from the 2015 NADA Art Fair At Basketball City In New York
photographs by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
Anahita Ramzi Permission To Fire
A great piece by Anahita Ramzi on view now at her solo show Automatic Assembly Actions @ Carbon 12 gallery in Dubai.
Anahita Razmi ‘RE / CUT Performance @ Carbon 12
Anahita_Razmi_carbon_12
Anahita Razmi’s performance RE / CUT PIECE is the appropriation of Yoko Ono’s seminal 1964 performance Cut Piece. In Yoko Ono’s performance, the artist sat on stage with a pair of scissors next to her. The audience was then invited to enter the stage and to cut a piece of the artist’s clothing. In various art reviews it is described as a “feminist” piece; a participatory performance, co-created by what the audience brings to it. Anahita Razmi takes this concept out of its original context and refocuses it: the rather insignificant performance dress that was worn by Yoko Ono in the sixties, is exchanged for a luxurye black Gucci Dress. The focus on the value of the dress invades the performance with new associations and meanings. Yoko Ono’s piece, which was originally shown in Japan and New York, is now re-performed in Dubai. This new location brings with it its own associations of luxury, megalomania and nouveau-riche. Yet such icons seem to be ambivalent and in a state of constant transformation. As in the original performance, the viewer was invited to enter the stage to cut off a piece of the artist’s robe. The performance RE / CUT PIECE took place at Carbon 12 during the opening of Anahita Razmi’s solo exhibition Automatic Assembly Actions on January 14th and will be on view until March 14, 2013. And stay tuned to Pas Un Autre for an exclusive interview with the artist.