One of a handful of pioneers who shaped the UAE’s early commercial art scene, Isabelle van den Eynde opened her first gallery, B21, in 2006 in Dubai’s Al Quoz industrial district. At a time when contemporary art galleries were just beginning to stake their place in the local cultural landscape, she exhibited challenging artists. Now Isabelle van den Eynde presents to public unusual exhibition project.
184 Nails is a non-static exhibition featuring works that will be replaced at the end of every week. 21 artworks selected from Hassan Sharif’s ‘Semi-Systems’ series will be rotated across the gallery walls at least twice during the exhibition run. Works not exhibited will be stored in a shelving unit in the gallery space until their return. ‘Draft papers’ from separate works will be exhibited in a continuous procession across the gallery walls. Respective ‘artworks’ will be exhibited alongside this chain of ‘draft papers.’ A random system determines the order of the works on the gallery walls.
About Hassan Sharif
Hassan Sharif (1951-2016) made a vital contribution to conceptual art and experimental practice in the Middle East through forty years of performance, installation, drawing, painting, and assemblage. As an artist, he rejected calligraphic abstraction, which was becoming the dominant discourse in the Middle East at that time (1970s), and pursued instead a pointedly contemporary vocabulary. In addition to his own practice, he also encouraged and supported several generations of artists in the Emirates. Sharif was a founding member of the Emirates Fine Arts Society (founded in 1980) and the Art Atelier in the Youth Theatre and Arts in Dubai. In 2007, he was one of the four artists to establish The Flying House, a Dubai institution for promoting contemporary Emirati artists.
Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde
Unit 17, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, UAE
For more information, please visit https://ivde.viewingrooms.com
