.   .     Dubai-based sculptor Arnaud Rivieren works solely with industrial scrap and mainly with stainless steel. Called by the press “a scientist of spatial subterfuge, a doctor of dynamics, [and] the crown prince of the circle”, he recently gained waves of applause for his third solo show at B21 Gallery. Rivieren is so entranced by the creative possibilities of steel, he regularly truffles the scrap heaps and steelyards of the UAE in search for raw material. Sourcing pieces of recycled steel that have already served a practical purpose, he then painstakingly works his materials through a lengthy, organic transformation, giving them new life in the process and ultimately reforming them into stunning angular shapes that contort, curve, twist and revolve into sculpture. The sense throughout all is of the artist capturing the inspiration that floats by him on a daily basis (readings, music, images in the newspaper, children's memory…) and trimming it down like an obsessive collector in order to assemble a strangely personal depiction of his own emotions, feelings and memories. Stripping ordinary objects of their normal environment, rendering gigantic what ordinarily fits in one's hand, redefining landscapes or defying physical laws; Rivieren's re-contextualization is staggering.   EDUCATION 1983-1985 Degree in Economics, Brussels, Belgium 1986-1988 License in foreign trade and international relations, Liege, Belgium 1989-1990 Military service   SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2007 'From Scrap', B21 Gallery, Dubai, UAE 2006 'Steel Sculptures', B21 Gallery, Dubai, UAE 2005 'Sculptures', B21 Gallery, Dubai, UAE   OTHER 2008 Creek Art Fair, Special installation, Dubai, UAE Permanent exhibition at the hotel 'La Maison d'Hote', Dubai, UAE