On November 10-11, 2022, the 14th edition of DIFC Art Nights was held in collaboration with Habroosh Art Foundation. The event’s theme was “Sustainability: Art for a Better World”.
Opera Gallery, one of the world’s leading art galleries, displayed artworks by modern and contemporary artists. Christie’s, a British auction house which was established in 1766 and became one of the world’s major auction houses, held an exhibition by French sculptors Claude & François-Xavier Lalanne.
There was also a panel discussion on art as an investment led by art industry experts working at Christie’s and the Opera Gallery: Meagan Kelly Horsman, Gilles Dylan, and Sylvain P. Gaillard. During the discussion, the consistent returns on investment seen in art investments was emphasised. If one buys the correct art at the right price, the investment is likely to produce more reliable returns than the S&P 500. Investment trends for the UAE to invest in ultra-contemporary art were also explored.
At DIFC Art Nights, 29 artists from all over the globe presented their artworks: in total 69 art pieces. Among the participants were Jake Michael Singer, Lene Kilde, Anthony James, Abda Fayyaz, Anja Bamberg, Bassam Kyrillos, and Deniz Sağdıç (Sagdic).
Jake Michael Singer (born in 1991) is a South African artist whose art practice includes photography, works on paper, and sculpture. Inspired by the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the behaviour of flocking birds, he creates his exquisite bird-like sculptures by assembling multiple strands of metal rods.
Singer studied at Central Saint Martins in London in 2012 and completed his bachelor’s at Michaelis School of Fine Art in 2013. He became the youngest sculptor to be awarded the Eduardo Villa Foundation Grant in 2016 and 2017. His work is featured in private collections in South Africa, Germany, Greece, Canada, Turkey, the UK, and the US.
Lene Kilde (born in 1981) is a Norwegian artist. She received a Master Degree in Product Design in 2012 and was awarded The Norwegian Arts Council scholarship for young artists in 2013. In 2014, Kilde worked on two artworks for the Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park in Grenada. The 800 m2 underwater sculpture area serves as an artificial reef for marine life. The park was created to stimulate natural development in the area affected by global warming and pollution. There are more than 70 sculptures in depths of 5–8 meters. One of the pieces made by Kilde is The Nutmeg Princess; it was inspired by a local fairy-tale of a Caribbean princess who once lived in a bottomless lake.
In her art, Kilde is immensely inspired by children, their emotions and body language. Her sculptures of concrete, metal mesh and air itself basically consist of fragments — few body parts, usually only hands and feet. The viewer is invited to use their own imagination to complete the sculptures and fill in the lines and volume by themselves.
Anthony James (born in 1974, England) is a British-American sculptor, painter, and performance artist; he graduated from London at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 1998 with a degree in Fine Art Painting. The most famous installation of his is KΘ (Kalos Thanatos) (2008): he set a Ferrari on fire in a birch forest and placed the car and trees in a mirrored glass box. To create his minimalistic art pieces in which he reflects on death, destruction, and rebirth, James experiments with light and space and uses different industrial objects, steel vitrines, aluminum sculptures, and detritus.
Abda Fayyaz is a Pakistani self-taught artist who has a degree in Banking and Finance and is experienced in brand development, marketing, advertising, and more. Combining modern and contemporary styles with traditional techniques, Fayyaz creates her abstract paintings and calligraphic works with acrylic paints. In her work, she focuses on understanding the universe and the changes that happen inside and around us. The emphasis on the importance of finding our true purpose is recurring in Fayyaz’s art pieces.
She took part in DIFC Art Nights with the series of her artworks titled “Patterns of Life and Time”. The artist created them being inspired by nature’s shapes and colours. All the works are based on the first alphabet of Arabic script, Alif, and the name ‘Allah’.
Anja Bamberg (born in 1978, Stralsund, Germany) is an artist and art therapist with a MA in Art and Design Therapy. Using oil, acrylic, oil pastels, and pens, she works mostly on large canvases, making contrasts in terms of colours more visible. The main theme that she dedicates her art to is the sea.
In her work #wtr, she captures the beauty of water and addresses such an ecological issue as its pollution. “Water is life and a treasure of our planet that is far too little appreciated”, Anja says. Willing to make her art more sustainable, the artist has started to use recycled paper and often makes her own one.
Bassam Kyrillos (born in 1971) is a Lebanese contemporary artist and sculptor; he completed his BFA from the University of Damascus and graduated from the Sorbonne with the PhD degree in Art History. Kyrillos participated in numerous exhibitions in Europe, the Middle East, China, and the USA. He creates his monumental and figurative sculptures using traditional bronze techniques and industrial materials (metal, cement, and soil). His artworks honour the devastation and hope that exist at the foundations of life.
Deniz Sağdıç (born 1982 in Mersin, Turkey) is a Turkish artist who studied at Mersin University’s Faculty of Fine Arts. She uses various techniques to express herself: sculpture, printing, engraving, and oil paintings. Among the themes she explores in her work are the place of women in society and sustainability. In 2015, the artist started an ongoing project “Ready-ReMade”. Using old clothes, plastic boxes and other kinds of waste, she creates human portraits. Thus, she draws attention to the causation of the waste and shows that art can be sustainable.
Beyond the works themselves, DIFC Art Nights has earned its place as something the city can be proud of: an evening where sculpture, painting, and craft are given the same open, welcoming stage as the district’s towers and financial institutions. Reaching its 14th edition did not happen by chance; it is the result of years of deliberate work by DIFC and its partners to build a platform where serious international galleries, auction houses, and independent artists could meet the public on equal footing. Artists from six continents stand side by side here, each bringing a distinct voice, yet united by the evening’s shared purpose of imagining a more sustainable world through art. That scale of ambition and care is what gives the event its lasting significance and makes it a genuine source of pride for Dubai’s growing art community.
You may also be interested in the Alserkal Art Week programme.
