Shirin Aliabadi and Farhad Moshiri, Tolerating Intolerance (2006). Courtesy of Art Dubai
Many of the images we see on a daily basis of the Middle East and Northern Africa come from a Western gaze, but the photographers at this 13th edition of Art Dubai — which opens to the public today — are showing their heritage, region and worldview from a different perspective.
There is an intimacy to a lot of the subject matter that allows everyday situations to take on new meanings. The photography shows everything from surrealism in carpets, to the politics of chocolate and how to have real interaction with the written word. As things kick off in Dubai, SLEEK picked out five of the art fair’s most striking photographers that are giving major moods:
Fully furnished – Farid Rasulov
Courtesy of Art Dubai
Farid Rasulov, from Azerbaijan, works across sculpture, 3D graphics and installations, which all come together in the photographs and computer generated images he is showing with Sanatorium from his Carpeted Interiors (2014) series, which are closely connected to his real-life Dogs in the Living Room installation. The floor-to-ceiling patterning in both the live installation and the computer-generated images make it difficult to tell what is real and what is virtual.
Consumer culture – Shirin Aliabadi and Farhad Moshiri
Shirin Aliabadi and Farhad Moshiri, We are all Americans (2006). Courtesy of Art Dubai
Shirin Aliabadi and Farahd Moshiri focus on how influences from America and the West have infiltrated their home country of Iran. The photos from their Operation Supermakert (2006) series, exhibited with Dubai-based gallery The Third Line, take a Pop art look at the how consumerist culture and products have flooded the markets of Iran, which renounced this ideology after the revolution in 1979. Aliabadi passed away last year, leaving her husband, Farhad Moshiri, to continue their photographic legacy.
Street savvy – Fouad Elkoury
Fouad Elkoury, Birds (2009). Courtesy of Art Dubai
Place is a large character in Fouad Elkoury’s photography and for the 2010 book, What happened to my dreams, the Lebanese photographer zigzags across the globe to capture different socio-political moments as they relate to the hopes and dreams of a generation born in the fifties. His selection from the book, Birds (2009), which will be on display at the Third Line Booth, focuses on a street side view of New York City.
Phantom limb – Farah Al Qasimi
Farah Al Qasimi, Old McDonald's (2014). Courtesy of Art Dubai
Farah Al Qasimi made a name for herself with opulent images of Gulf culture, but for Art Dubai, The Third Line gallery selected one of her more subdued works, Old McDonald’s (2014). Like Alibadi and Moshiri’s pieces, this shows the literal mark that western culture has left on the Middle East. The Emirati artist is also one of the younger photographers, born in 1991.
Textual – Hamza Bounoua
Hamza Bounoua, Situations (2019) Courtesy of Art Dubai
The Algerian artists, Hamza Bounoua is known for his pieces that work with the calligraphic shapes of the Arabic language. Tradition, spirituality and geometry are common themes of his work. Although his pieces usually favour painting and mixed media on Plexiglas, his photographic work being shown at the Wadi Finan Art Gallery booth, with his piece Situations (2019), puts the letters of calligraphy on a human scale.
Art Dubai goes from March 20th to the 23rd.