gulftoday.ae | Eclectic mix of conceptual, installation work to go under hammer at Ayyam
Offering painting, sculpture, prints and photography as in previous auctions, this upcoming auction will mark the first time that attendees will be able to bid on exceptional conceptual and installation work.
Ayyam Auctions has gathered a notable selection of nearly a dozen lots by modernist pioneers Louay Kayyali, Nassir Chaura and Fateh Mouddares — works that speak of the region’s significant history of painting.
Complementing this spotlight will be a wide range of examples by contemporary artists such as Palestinian painter Samia Halaby, whose work is housed in the collections of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum of Art (New York and Dubai) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Relative newcomers who have become increasingly popular among private and public collections include Iraqi artist Halim Al Karim, whose highly recognisable prints are under the custodianship of the Barjeel Art Foundation, the Farjam Foundation and Saatchi Gallery.
Other featured artists such as Iranian painter Khosrow Hassanzadeh, Iraqi multidisciplinary artist Sadik Alfraji and Syrian sculptor Lutfi Romhein, boast similar followings.
Among a number of outstanding works, Huguette Caland’s 2010 monumental metal wire installation piece possesses a marked majesty in both presence and imagination.
A recent painting by Syrian artist Mohannad Orabi that was created against the backdrop of the recent turmoil that has engulfed the Middle East and North Africa marks a turning point in his widely popular oeuvre.
Several paintings by late Syrian artists Louay Kayyali and Fateh Moudarres — the bulk of which were produced during the 1970s — reveal a precedent for the type of politically charged works that are appearing more frequently in contemporary Arab painting.
Palestinian artist Samia Halaby’s “Three Mothers and Three Exotic Birds under an Olive Tree, Women of Palestine Series” (2009) carries equal visual potency with an acrylic on canvas collage that defies conventional methods of painting.
