Hassan Sharif: Experiments & Objects, 1976–2011: Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority

Hassan Sharif's retrospective Hassan Sharif: Experiments & Objects, 1976–2011 presented by the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority.

The institution's press release follows:

This is the first major monographic exhibition of Hassan Sharif in the UAE. Sharif is a seminal artist who is deeply associated with the modern history and culture of the United Arab Emirates. He is a major figure in the artistic community of the country and has developed a strong body of work from the late 1970′s onward. The exhibition begins with the artist’s early experiments and performances and includes many objects as well as series of his conceptual drawings and systemic works.

Hassan Sharif studied in Great Britain. He first started to draw caricatures which he produced abundantly and which attracted a great deal of interest in the region (a book collecting these works will be published in 2011). His art practice is experimental and strongly involved with daily life materiality. He uses cotton, textile, metal, chord and plastic in order to create a variety of Objects. His choice of materials reflects the production conditions that he lives and works in: the post-modern and post-global society of the UAE. His materials also reflect different aspects of our time such as mass manufacturing and accumulating for example, through his use of cardboard and packaging – thus also reflecting an interest in human activity, not just his own process of art making but also that of others in other fields. The process of “making” is central to Sharif’s art practice: it is a precise, painstaking process, often involving repetitive actions and motions in the knotting, folding, wrapping and tying of various materials. Sharif’s work reflects his intentional “doing” and “making” and his consciousness of the conditions that he works in. Historically, his work did not have much public visibility in the UAE, yet he often represented the Emirates abroad. One gets a sense of this paradox and others in his work.

Hassan Sharif was one of the artists shown at the ADACH Visual Arts Platform in Venice—which was inaugurated at the 53d Venice Biennale in 2009—and further research on his practice culminated in this monographic exhibition and in the upcoming publication about his work which will be launched at the Venice Biennale on June 3d, 2011. The ADACH Platform for Visual Arts was designed as a meeting point for discourse and artistic production. A dynamic dispositive of presentations and exchanges which would introduce, through a visual narrative, the conditions in which contemporary culture and visual art are emerging in Abu Dhabi and the UAE today.

ADACH is in charge of conserving and promoting the heritage and culture of Abu Dhabi. It was established in October 2005 as an authority of the Government of Abu Dhabi and has a holistic vision of culture, which embraces both tangible and intangible heritage. ADACH commits its resources to the preservation of architectural and archaeological assets as well as to the development of Emirati and international arts, music, literature and cinema.

This exhibition is part of ADACH’s work in research, conservation, interpretation and promotion of the arts, culture and heritage of Abu Dhabi and the UAE including modern culture and heritage. It is ADACH’s mandate to engage with, investigate and present the work of the UAE’s arts and culture pioneers.