On January 20, 2023, Dubai’s latest art gallery, MRK Contemporary Art Gallery, was officially opened by Mohammed Al-Murr, Chairman of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Library and former UAE Federal National Council Speaker. It is located in Mazaya Center and occupies two spaces there. The gallery aims to celebrate and promote Emirati artists including talented child artists.
Meena Rao Kamal, Founder and Owner of the gallery, is a famous abstract landscape artist herself. Being Indian by nationality, she is also a patron of Bombay Art Society, India. The artist spends her creative time at her residences in Dubai; San Francisco, the USA; and Mumbai, India.
MRK Contemporary Art Gallery showcases the works of such Emirati artists as Dr Najat Makki, Abdul Qader Al Rais, Faisal Abdulqader, Khalilabdul Wahid, and child artists Aisha Mohammed Abdulkareem, Hessa Mohammed Abdulkareem, and Maitha Khalilabdul Wahid.
Dr Najat Makki (born in 1956, Dubai) presents the acrylic works from her Coin I and Coin II series. Coin I is about pigeons who carried messages tied to their legs in the past. For the artist, this makes them storytellers. Coin II relates the forgotten story of a queen, now no longer recognisable through her portrait on a coin.
Abdul Qader Al Rais (born in 1951 in the UAE) is well-known for his abstract forms incorporating geometric forms and Arabic script and for the use of floating squares across the canvas which create illusions of depth. He draws his inspiration from the Emirates’ landscapes and architecture.
Self-taught artist Faisal Abdulqader gave up his career in Finance to embrace art. Most of his paintings are realistic depictions of the heritage and culture of the UAE. To create his works, he uses oils, pencil, and watercolour and acrylic paints.
Khalil Abdul Wahid (born in 1974 in the UAE), a visual artist, works in video and painting. In the gallery, his series Artists’ Tools is displayed which is created from discarded brushes and the like, framed in boxes.
Working both in digital and traditional formats, artist Aisha Mohammed Abdulkareem (14 y.o.) is interested in fashion, but also does portraits. She likes her art to represent the confidence, dreams and aspirations of the Emirati girl.
Hessa Mohammed Abdulkareem (12 y.o.) is inspired by her love of Sheikhs to create their portraits. This way, she tells the world how far her country has travelled.
Artist Maitha Khalil Abdul Wahid, the daughter of Khalil Abdulwahid, is motivated by the sustainability mission of the UAE and expresses her thoughts and feelings mostly digitally. She is open to opinion: she feels it helps her towards perfection.
MRK Contemporary is also showcasing Eurabian artists (European + Arabian), whose art is influenced by Arabic and Islamic features: Dutch artist Karel Stoop, whose abstract pieces are influenced by the universe and Sufi Master Mevlana Rumi; North American artist Paul Morin, who has created portraits of the Rulers; James Bacchi from the USA, a MRK art consultant and an artist well-known for his mobile photography; and many others.
Apart from marketing the works of the region’s and international artists, MRK Contemporary offers masterpieces with a focus on the secondary market in a collaboration with Bacchi. The gallery will advise clients on art acquisition and sale of private collections, offer special viewing experiences, and guide collectors and art aficionados in purchasing artwork on the basis of prior appointment for private viewing.
To learn more about the gallery, please visit its official website.
You may also be interested in visiting the first Group exhibition at Perrotin in Dubai.
