Aisha Alabbar Gallery in Dubai is holding Superficial Transactions, a solo show by multidisciplinary Emirati artist Eman Alhashemi. Curated by Nasser Abdullah, the exhibition presents Alhashemi’s latest creations and will be open to the public until 6 January 2025.
The exhibited series of artworks reflects Alhashemi’s evolving artistic journey, offering annotations and insights into various phases of her career. Beginning with experiments in manual printing and repetitive editions during her academic years, she later ventured into sculpture, ceramics, performance art, and multimedia video projects. This progression illustrates her exploration of diverse forms and mediums over time.
Alhashemi’s practice celebrates imperfection and variation, embracing inconsistencies across her works as a metaphor for human diversity. Her approach blends experimentation with critical thought, examining the interplay of concepts and forms in artistic production. Through her creations, she critiques repetitive consumerist patterns and reframes the mundane, inviting viewers to perceive the ordinary from new perspectives.
Alhashemi’s work challenges the pursuit of perfection, urging audiences to embrace imperfection as an intrinsic part of human connection. She encourages reflection on everyday life and offers art as a tool to navigate beyond routine, fostering deeper relationships with ourselves and the world around us.
About the artist
Eman Alhashemi (b. 1993, Dubai) earned a BFA from the University of Sharjah (Sharjah, 2016) and an MFA in Ceramics at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) (Providence, RI, USA, 2023).
Alhashemi’s work encompasses printmaking, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, and artist books. In her practice, she often employs transformative processes like melting, cracking, warping, and waiting to produce pieces that delve into themes around imagined and exaggerated spaces, focusing on impossible tasks, repetition, mass production, value, and the balance between productivity and inefficiency. By engaging with concepts of waiting, slowness, and transformation, Alhashemi critiques some modern expectations and unexpected aspects of time.
Alhashemi has showcased her art in multiple exhibitions, which include Abu Dhabi Art Fair (2024), Dubai Calligraphy Biennale (Foundry Downtown Dubai, 2023); Mini Print Prize Exhibition (Printmakers Council) (Morley Gallery, London, UK, 2017); the 4th International Emerging Artist Award Gallery Show (TAG bxl, Brussels, Belgium, 2016); and the 4th Wharepuke International Open Printmaking Show (Art at Wharepuke, Kerikeri, New Zealand, 2015), among others.
Alhashemi was part of Cohort 5 of the Sheikha Salama Emerging Artists Fellowship (SEAF), Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Foundation (SHF), in partnership with Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) (Abu Dhabi, 2018). She also took part in other residency programmes like Forsa School (Sharjah Art Foundation, 2019-2020), Facebook’s Global Artist in Residence Programme (Dubai, 2017), and East Carolina University and University of Sharjah Exchange Programme (2014).
The artist has received the Printmaking Today Mini Print Editorial Prize (London, 2018) and the 4th International Emerging Artist Award (Dubai, 2016). Her works are part of Emirati and international collections, including the Abu Dhabi Executive Office, ADMAF, Art Jameel Collection, and Victoria & Albert Museum (London).
To get more information about Superficial Transactions, please go to the official web page of the show.
You also might be interested in visiting Navigating Through Nothing, Syrian artist Thaier Helal’s solo exhibition.
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