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.
Anahita Razmi ‘RE / CUT Performance @ Carbon 12
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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.
James Clar Iris Was A Pupil at Carbon 12 Dubai
Exhibition view of James Clar's solo show Iris Was A Pupil on view now until December 8 at Carbon 12 Dubai. See more photos after the jump.
James Clar's Iris Was a Pupil on View At Carbon 12
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Carbon 12 gallery in Dubai presents the solo exhibition of the American multi-media artist James Clar, Iris was a Pupil, which opens today. As the title clearly suggests it, the new works are about the sensation of visual stimuli, the constant challenge of finding new viewpoints, and the demand to keep seeing things from fresh perspectives. “Iris was a Pupil” (also the title of a song by techno legends Autechre) also calls the connotation of synaesthesia to mind. The theme of crossing borders is always present in the work of Clar, who lives and works between New York and Dubai: not only in the sense of redefining the physical limitations and boundaries of media (mediums), but also in the metaphysical sense of investigating subjects such as nationalism and globalism in the age of social technologies. Here, he takes a step further, blurring the lines between dreams and reality, synthetic and real. Iris Was a Pupil opens today November 5 and will be on view until December 8, 2012 at Carbon 12, Warehouse D37, Alserkal Avenue, Street 8, Al Quoz 1, Dubai
Wounds by Jaber Al Azmeh
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For the opening of the fall season, Green Art Gallery in Dubai will be presenting Wounds, a series of works by Syrian photographer Jaber Al Azmeh. This series began and evolved along with the revolutionary movements happening in Syria during the crucial first ten months that the country was in turmoil. Photographing individuals from his social circle, including those who were actively part of the revolutionary movement, Al Azmeh asked his subjects to re-enact and perform the stories that they had witnessed or heard about from what was happening in the streets. As the protests and violence increased, Al Azmeh along with many other activists and critics of the current regime had to leave their country for their own safety. Isolated and left with only stories that he heard about the events unfolding within Syria, Al Azmeh eventually became the protagonist of his own work, re-enacting and photographing himself as he transformed from social observer to social activist. Wounds will be on view from September 10 to October 29, at Green Art Gallery, Al Quoz 1, Street 8, AlSerkal Avenue, Unit 28
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[An] idealization of youth....goes hand in hand with an overall sense of sadness and desperation felt by the artist. With the encroaching global problems facing the youth today, wars, famines, economical downturns, a hope for a better future becomes an idealization in itself. Starting January 11, the Green Art Gallery in Dubai will be presenting a solo show of new works by Turkish photographer Nazif Topcuoglu. Innerscapes will be on view from January 11 to March 5 2011, Green Art Gallery, Al Serkal Ave. D28, Dubai.