Sarah Alagroobi's Slanted Dreamscape
Sarah Alagroobi’s Slanted Dreamscape
24.09.2024
Reading 3 min

Artbooth Gallery in Abu Dhabi is currently hosting Slanted Dreamscape, Emirati artist Sarah Alagroobi’s solo exhibition. It offers a captivating exploration of her dreamlike landscapes, inviting visitors to experience her unique and imaginative visions. The show will be open to the public until 27 October 2024.

Rich in texture and form, Alagroobi’s paintings portray a world where reality meets imagination. Exploring dreamlike mountains and surreal terrains, they offer a deep sense of contemplation beyond the ordinary. The artist’s work bridges the physical and metaphysical, using layered acrylics to craft landscapes that transcend time and space. Each art piece merges the concrete and the abstract, drawing viewers into vibrant colours and dynamic shapes.

The collection of works featured in the Slanted Dreamscape exhibition reflects Alagroobi’s journey through imagined lands distorted by memory. Through repetitive motifs and fluid compositions, the series delves into the experience of belonging to both the familiar and the unknown. Alagroobi’s work expresses an ongoing quest to discover the imaginary within the vast landscapes of the mind, celebrating both the seen and unseen.

Sarah Alagroobi, Peaks And Troughs, 2024
Sarah Alagroobi, Peaks And Troughs, 2024. Acrylic on wood panel. 92 x 122 cm

About the artist

Sarah Alagroobi (b. 1989, Brussels, Belgium), a multidisciplinary artist, researcher, and educator, divides her time between London (UK) and Brussels. She graduated from the American University of Sharjah with a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communications in 2013 and earned an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art (London) in 2018.

Employing typography, film, painting, sculpture, furniture design, 3D installations, as well as print and time-based media, Alagroobi examines notions of culture and identity within Arab and Western contexts through colonial discourse. Drawing on personal and collective experiences, her work reflects an elegant simplicity in its exploration of place, borders, and a sense of belonging. Among Alagroobi’s most notable projects is The Letters Project, an online platform showcasing letters written by anonymous people. This project foregrounds social constructs within the Arab region by bringing forth contemporary cultural critique.

Sarah Alagroobi, Cave, 2020
Sarah Alagroobi, Cave, 2020. Acrylic on canvas. 40 x 60 cm

The artist has displayed her creations in various exhibitions and art events, such as Subtracting the Imaginary (a solo show at Fabien Fryns Gallery Dubai, 2022); Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2019, 2018, and 2017; VERSUS Art Project (Istanbul, Turkey, 2018); SURGE East Wing Biennial 13 (Somerset House, London, 2018); and the Venice Biennale (2011 and 2014), to name a few.

Alagroobi has received a number of awards and grants: the Global Women’s Forum Rising Talent (2016) and the 2013 Sheikha Manal Young Artist Award (the 1st Place Winner in Design and the 3rd Place Winner in Fine Arts), among others. She has also undertaken several residencies, such as BICAR Curatorial Residency x Warehouse421 (2020) and the samt Residency Programme VOL 03 – Blue (2020).

To get more information about Slanted Dreamscape, please go to the show’s official web page.

In addition, you might be interested in visiting Fragility and Resilience, a solo exhibition by Ayesha Sultana.

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