So imagine that you are in an art gallery featuring an array of local UAE artists.
You’re nibbling on canapes as you chat with your arty friends. Everything is pretty laid back and chilled out and you’re enjoying looking at all the impressive artwork. You turn to your left and BOOM!
Salvador Dali, The Horse Series, Swan
A Dali.
An ORIGINAL, honest-to-goodness Salvador Dali which is so close you can just reach out and touch it!
No need to go all the way to Barcelona to have this experience; it happened right here in Pro Art Gallery, Jumeirah on the opening night of The Big Picture on May the 5th.
Curated by artist Ram Nath, The Big Picture is now in its second edition and is under the patronage of His Highness Shiekh Khalid Bin Mansour Al Thani.
As well as Dali, other legendary artists that were featured at the exhibition included Banksy, Picasso, Andy Warhol, Roy Liechtenstein and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol
Roy Lichtenstein, Cow Going Abstract
All their original works were exhibited side by side with 45 local artists from the UAE. The best part was there were no walls or barriers separating the legends from the contemporaries.
Vahid Danaiefar, untitled 2, Oil on board,
Luis Vazquez, The Path of the Foxes, Acrylic on Canvas
Kevin Badni, Big head, Sculpture
“The idea of including internationally renowned legends and UAE based artists supported the main goals of The Big Picture, which is to demolish any boundaries or categorization that may limit the artists or their thought processes.” Nath explains.
The exhibition has alot of diversity as it explores multifaceted artistic creations featuring painting, photography, sculpture, digital art, performance art, installation as well as sound and video arts, by emerging and established artists.
The gallery was packed with an assortment of art aficionados soaking up the atmosphere.
The interesting part about this exhibition was it had a highly personal touch as there was an audio guide available.
It allowed the viewer to wander around at his/her own pace with headphones on and listen to each artist talk about their themes and inspirations behind their pieces.
The energy was infectious and the talent was indeed awe-inspiring.
Reem Albanna, Hazy Reality, Oil on Canvas
Zoya Tariq, Imprisoned in a mistaken identity, Photography
Eduardo Yup, Face the Reality, Acrylic on fiber matt
Resurger, Liberty 2, Screen print,
Aleksandar Bezinovic, Annunciation, Acrylic on Canvas
Here are a couple of photos of my work at the exhibition …
Free as a Bird, acrylic on board,
Thanks to The Big Picture, someday I can brag to my future grandkids that I was featured in the same exhibition as Picasso!
If you have not seen it yet, you’d best skedaddle as the exhibition continues until the 24th of May!
sarajapanwalla 