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The
last ten months have been particularly exciting at B21, both for the
quality and ambition of the exhibitions mounted and for the continued
growth of the gallery which, of course, stems directly from the success
of our artists. As we bring an end to the season, it is our pleasure
to share with you past highlights and to give a glimpse of what’s in
store for the upcoming season. |
Fall
2007 began with the white walls of B21 charged by the signature
black, white and red canvases of Iranian artist Ghass Rouzkhosh. In
November, artparis saw the B21 team travelling to Abu
Dhabi, marking the gallery’s first big art fair and giving us the
opportunity to introduce our artists to an enthusiastic international
audience.
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At the same
time back in Dubai, we were showing Iranian photographer Ramin
Haerizadeh’s perennially popular ‘Wonders of Nature’ series,
which he recently followed with ‘Bab Hejab’, a daring series of digital
prints on watercolor paper notably acquired by the British Museum in
March. |
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In
the New Year we were met with Arnaud
Rivieren’s clever exhibition of steel
sculpture: ‘From Scrap’, followed by the young Iranian artist Shahriar
Ahmadi, whose meditative canvases lent shape and color
to the ancient poems of Rumi.
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With
March came not only Art Dubai, which in
its second year attracted remarkable commercial
and critical notice, but also Rokni
Haerizadeh’s wildly successful show ‘The
Donkey, the Pagan, the Bride, and Others’.
With this body of work, his most markedly
mature and ambitious to date, Rokni captivated
collectors both here in Dubai and
abroad, among which count the JP Morgan
Chase |
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in New York, and the London based collector Charles Saatchi, who
acquired the powerful diptych ‘Typical Iranian Wedding’ as
he sought to begin a Middle Eastern collection. |
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n t e r t a i n m e n t / a r t - a n d -
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monumental exhibition, ‘Surface of Time’, brought together several
of the artist’s projects under one title. The striking centerpiece
was the nine meter long woven tapestry ‘Oum El Dounia’; not to
be outdone by ‘Roba Vecchia’, the kaleidoscopic work on aluminum
that synthesized a project first installed at the Townhouse Gallery
in Cairo in 2006 and later at the first Gulf Art fair in Dubai.
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Dubai-based
Lebanese artist Nadine Kanso attracted
enormous and well-deserved attention with her photographic exhibition,
‘Rewind: Ya Zaman’.
And fellow Dubai–based Palestinian artist Jeffar
Khaldi’s bold and bewildering canvases in ‘Wish You Were Here’
also generated much buzz in May.
For the sweltering month of July, we brought the refreshingly playful
works of young Egyptian artist Hani Rashed to
Dubai. |
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If you are one of the brave souls sticking
out the month
of August in Dubai, we invite you to visit the gallery’s
Summer Hanging, which will be open from 3pm-7pm,
Saturday through Thursday.
At a time when the Middle East art scene is gaining international
awareness and interest, B21 aims to push boundaries and to promote
cutting-edge art. There is something truly exhilarating in discovering
new and unique talents, and furthermore to witness their significance
confirmed in today’s creative but captious climate.
We would like to again thank friends of B21 for their support
over the past months. We trust you will share in our excitement
for the challenging group of artists on show in the coming months.
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Warm regards, |
B21
Team |
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