Not only is February the official month of love, but it’s also proving to be quite a glorious time for art aficionados like myself.
There are tonnes of interesting art events and exhibitions going on right now. I’ve been keeping busy doing my usual gallery hopping and last week I went to see two great shows with extremely different tones.
My friend Deama had invited me to come to an exhibition called Fakie #3 which she was participating in.
Opening night of Fake#3 at FN Designs
Fakie #3 was held at FN designs at Al Serkhal Avenue. Every artist participating at this show had been given a blank skateboard to use as their canvas and they were to illustrate their signature style on it.
The end results were so amazing as there was so much variation in subject matter in the collection. For instance, some artists went for patterns, others opted for sketching animals. A few skateboards had been adorned with beautiful, romantic, art nouveau style illustrations with flowing hair and exaggerated manga-esque eyes.
Liz Ramos
Joseph Manata
Azim Al Ghussein
H.H. Sheikha Wafa Hasher Al Maktoum
The mood for the evening was chilled out, vibrant and fun. In keeping with the theme, they even had a skateboard ramp built outside to get your “skillz on”
Oh, and the canapes!!! Sushi, salmon and shawermas…Oh my!!!!!
I certainly enjoyed noshing on those while browsing through the “totally bodacious boards!!!”
(That last phrase has to be read in a voice like Michelangelo the ninja turtle, please.)
group shot of participating artists
Almost a Dream opening night
Moving along, another exhibition I was very eager to see was Safwan Dahoul’s solo show “Almost a Dream” held at Ayyam gallery in DIFC.
The critically acclaimed Syrian painter has created a soulful and poignant series of paintings in muted monochrome shades.
Inspired by his colour palette, I dressed in monochrome just for the occasion!
There’s elements in his work which are inspired ancient Pharaonic art. An example of this is how he incorporates a distinctive almond shaped Eye of Horus symbol shown repeatedly in his pieces. He uses reoccurring figures such as angels and a soft female form to narrate his ideas.
The themes he deals with in his work have a melancholy tone as he generally centers around war, tragedy and the inhumane conditions civilians have to go through in his home country in Syria.
Dahoul attempts to bring out the in the viewer the same feeling of pain that is experienced in his own being. His evocative work is open to interpretation and hence, very engaging and personal to the viewer. So much so that I found some of his paintings really did trigger an emotional chord with me.
“Almost a Dream” is on display at DIFC until the 13th of March.
sarajapanwalla 