The Arts Club Dubai invites art enthusiasts to experience the Where Gesture Meets Story – Recent Art From the Yes Collection exhibition, part of the Club’s biannual Stairway Exhibits. On view until 28 February 2025, the show presents 18 diverse art pieces from the distinguished collection of Charles Al Sidaoui, featuring over 150 works from around the globe.
The exhibition, showcasing works by 17 artists from 14 countries, spans two levels and comprises two sections. The first one, Rethinking the Figure, focuses on figurative art exploring contemporary socio-political narratives. The second section, Contemporary Abstraction, displays abstract pieces where gesture, colour, and emotion form the core artistic elements.
Visitors can view works by pioneering Emirati abstract artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Lebanese architect and visual artist Ghazi Baker, and Iraqi artist Ahmed Alsoudani. Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim’s work, inspired by the landscapes of Khorfakkan (the place of his birth), incorporates colorful, organic forms that resemble primitive tools or ancient cave drawings.
Meanwhile, Ghazi Baker draws inspiration from comic books, music, films, motorcycle culture, esoteric imagery, and daily life to produce dynamic artworks that refer to mass or classical cultures. His practice explores unity and disunity, the relationship between art, pop culture, and media, and involves working with repetition and provocation.
Ahmed Alsoudani’s surreal paintings characterised by vivid colours focus on the turbulent history of Iraq and explore themes of struggle and resilience. Inspired by his experiences of devastation and violence, his art blends European artistic influences with elements of Middle Eastern literature and contemporary poetry.
The exhibition also includes works by Chinese artists Xiyao Wang and Lyn Liu. While Xiyao Wang produces lyrical pieces that embody movement and evoke expansive landscapes and dynamic thoughts, Liu’s cinematic-style paintings, reminiscent of film stills, use light and surreal elements to explore themes of alienation and societal oppression.
Besides, one can also see pieces by Ghanaian artist Isshaq Ismail, British artist Rebecca Ackroyd, and Tanzanian artist Sungi Mlengeya. Through bold impasto portraits featuring grotesque faces, Ismail examines identity, social dynamics, and canonical beauty while delving into themes like power and hope.
Ackroyd’s work juxtaposes feminine forms with abstract architecture, examining themes of desire, anxiety, and the experiences tied to womanhood. Similarly, Mlengeya celebrates women in her minimalist black-and-white paintings and employs negative space to convey freedom and introspection.
Other featured creatives include Czech artist Vojtěch Kovařík, Brazilian artist Maxwell Alexandre, Congolese painter Lutanda Zemba Luzamba, Norwegian artist Sverre Bjertnæs, Spanish artist Jordi Ribes, Ghanaian artist Ablade Glover, French artist Farah Atassi, and American artists Shaina McCoy and Enrico Riley.
For more details about Where Gesture Meets Story – Recent Art from the Yes Collection, please go to the official exhibition web page.
Additionally, you might be interested in attending I’ve Got to Know You Now We May Never Meet Again, Sola Olulode’s solo show.
