Artbooth Gallery presents Found in Translation, a solo show by established artist and writer Steven Naifeh. Marking a return to Abu Dhabi after making history in 1975 as the first artist to hold a solo exhibition in the city at the U.S. Embassy, Naifeh brings his mesmerising works that celebrate the timeless elegance of Middle Eastern geometric art. The show will run through 5 January 2025.
The son of U.S. diplomats, Naifeh spent his formative years across the Middle East. These experiences fueled his fascination with the intricate geometric patterns adorning everything in the Islamic world, from the textiles to the structures. Captivated by the mathematical basis of these designs developed over a millennium ago in the Islamic world, Naifeh has adapted these ancient principles to produce modern, large-scale pieces that merge tradition with contemporary art.
Naifeh’s practice is also deeply aligned with the Geometric Abstraction movement, championed by artists like Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich, which emphasizes the interplay of line, colour, and geometric forms. Drawing inspiration from both Middle Eastern and Western art traditions, Naifeh’s work bridges cultures, highlighting their shared aesthetics.
In his paintings and sculptures, Naifeh reimagines millennia-old Islamic prototypes, rooted in mathematical principles, through the lens of 20th-century international art. His use of scale, dimension, and material explores the evolving boundaries of painting and sculpture, while reflecting the spirituality of Islamic and Arab art.
About the artist
Steven Naifeh (b. 1952, Iran), who resides in Aiken (South Carolina, USA), is widely known as the co-author of the biography Jackson Pollock: An American Saga (with Gregory White Smith), which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1991. Naifeh earned an AB summa cum laude in American History (1974) from Princeton University and also studied at the Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1977. In 1979, the artist obtained an MFA from Harvard. In addition, Naifeh received honorary doctorates from the University of South Carolina Aiken (1998) and the Juilliard School (2012).
Naifeh’s art style balances the precision of geometry with the vibrant playfulness of Op Art. His sculptures, often comprising copper-plated steel squares arranged into star-like formations, underscore a modular approach, reflecting a strict mathematical progression that ties the parts to the whole.
Naifeh has showcased his works in various exhibitions, such as the 4th Annual Juried International Exhibition of Contemporary Islamic Art (LuminArte Gallery, Dallas, Texas, USA, 2015); Found in Translation: The Art of Steven Naifeh (solo) (Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, South Carolina, USA, 2013); Summer Show (Henri Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1974); and a solo show at Consulate General of the United States (Karachi, Pakistan, 1971); to name a few.
Naifeh is the author of many books and articles, including Van Gogh: The Life (with Gregory White Smith, 2011); Gene Davis (1982); and Culture Making: Money, Success and the New York Art World (1976), among others. Apart from receiving the Pulitzer Prize, Naifeh was a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe Award in Fact Crime (1994) and the National Book Award in Nonfiction (1990).
To get more information about Found in Translation, please go to the official web page of the show.
In addition, you might be interested in visiting The Search for an Open Enigma, a solo exhibition by Antonio Dias.
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