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Hassan Sharif

Semi-Systems

January 4–February 10, 2018

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

10th to 13th October No. 1 & No. 2, 1984, Ink, pencil and marker on paper

10th to 13th October No. 1 & No. 2, 1984

Ink, pencil and marker on paper

Left panel: 33.07 x 23.23 inches (84 x 59 cm) Right panel: 23.43 x 16.54 inches (59.5 x 42 cm)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Copper no. 35, 2016, Copper wire

Copper no. 35, 2016

Copper wire

88.58h x 33.46w x 7.09d in (225h x 85w x 18d cm)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Springs, 2016, Stainless steel springs

Springs, 2016

Stainless steel springs

31.50h x 181.10w x 1.57d in (80h x 460w x 4d cm)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Hassan Sharif: Semi-Systems, installation view, Alexander Gray Associates (2018)

Iron, 2014, Iron frame and wire

Iron, 2014

Iron frame and wire

26.77h x 11.42w x 3.54d in (68h x 29w x 9d cm)

Drawing Squares on the Floor Using a Cube, 1982, Photographs on paperboard in 8 parts

Drawing Squares on the Floor Using a Cube, 1982

Photographs on paperboard in 8 parts

38.58h x 28.94w inches (98h x 73.5w cm)

Days - Months - Years, 2006, Marker on paper

Days - Months - Years, 2006

Marker on paper

12.9h x 12w inches

The Laws of Chance, 1984, Ink and pencil on paper

The Laws of Chance, 1984

Ink and pencil on paper

19.29h x 26.18w inches (49h x 66.5w cm)

Wood, 2016, Wood

Wood, 2016

Wood

86.61h x 16.14w x 3.15d in (220h x 41w x 8d cm)

Wood, 2016, Wood

Wood, 2016

Wood

70.87h x 19.29w x 3.15d in (180h x 49w x 8d cm)

Wood, 2016, Wood

Wood, 2016

Wood

70.87h x 12.99w x 6.30d in (180h x 33w x 16d cm)

Diagonal Line No. 19, 2008, Ink and pencil on paper

Diagonal Line No. 19, 2008

Ink and pencil on paper

23.35h x 16.54w in (59.30h x 42w cm)

Lines, 2012, Pencil on paper

Lines, 2012

Pencil on paper

23.43h x 16.54w in (59.50h x 42w cm)

One to Thirteen, 2008, Ink and pencil on paper

One to Thirteen, 2008

Ink and pencil on paper

23.35h x 16.54w in (59.30h x 42w cm)

Vertical Lines No. 1, 2008, Ink on paper

Vertical Lines No. 1, 2008

Ink on paper

23.35 x 16.54 inches (59.30 x 42 cm) each

Steel, 2016, Steel

Steel, 2016

Steel

35.43h x 19.69w x 3.94d in (90h x 50w x 10d cm)

Dots, Lines and Forms, 1984, Ink on paper

Dots, Lines and Forms, 1984

Ink on paper

12.80h x 19.65w in (32.50h x 49.90w cm)

Diagonal Line No. 18, 2008, Ink and pencil on paper

Diagonal Line No. 18, 2008

Ink and pencil on paper

23.35h x 16.54w in (59.30h x 42w cm)

One to Nine, 2008, Ink and pencil on paper

One to Nine, 2008

Ink and pencil on paper

23.35h x 16.54w in (59.30h x 42w cm)

Lines No. 3, 2014, Carpet

Lines No. 3, 2014

Carpet

92.13h x 27.17w in (234h x 69w x 1d cm)

Press Release

Alexander Gray Associates presented Hassan Sharif: Semi Systems, the Gallery’s fourth exhibition of work by the artist (b.1951, Iran – d.2016, Dubai, United Arab Emirates). Focused on Sharif’s use of the grid, geometry, and repetitive gesture, the exhibition includes work in a variety of media made as early as 1982 until his death in 2016.

During his studies in London in the early 1980s, Hassan Sharif became exposed to and engaged with conceptual artists, which prompted him to selectively embrace and reject strict tenants of abstraction and automatic form; chance and play. These motifs along with a fascination with mathematical calculations and permutations led him to begin methodical yet absurd performances which he called “Experiments.” On his return to Dubai in 1982, these performances would develop further, taking place for an audience of the camera, in studio urban and desert settings. On view are six documentary images of Drawing Squares on the Floor Using a Cube (1982) in which the artist traced a pre-existing sculptural cube onto the ground in a grid pattern, ultimately creating a larger drawn square that echoes the shape of the traced object.

Concurrently, Sharif applied the same approach of repetition and variation to a series of geometric and linear drawings, the “Semi-Systems,” which he would continue throughout his career. Conceived with arbitrary mathematical rules or instructions that were often outlined in accompanying workbooks, the artist would embrace rebellions within these frameworks, breaking rules, inverting formulas. While making this work in Dubai, Sharif was witnessing changes in religious practice, the transformative impact of the UAE’s political independence, and rapid economic growth and speculation. As art historian Paulina Kolczynska writes, Sharif “wanted to remain at the fringes of the system in order to retain space for the creation of his own constructivist process… it was through his coined description of “semi-systems” that he made an important statement, signaling that he was taking some distance from the original systematic agenda.”

Central to the exhibition is the monumental wall painting Clockwise. The painting structure is derived from a 2008 diptych of the same title, each panel of which includes a columnar grid formation, with one line emphasized in each cube. While these works rely on straightforward geometry, they are hand drawn and imperfect. Also on view are Sharif’s preparatory drawings, or ‘draft papers’  which illustrate how his formulations were mutable and could yield an array of results. Similarly imperfect is the wall-based object Springs (2016), which is comprised of coiled metal draped from the wall, each tendril ending at a different length, some coils more taut than others. The springs themselves are a feat of mathematical engineering. Sharif capitalizes on their existing structure and arranges them on the wall, much in the way he used the generic lines, squares, and dots in endless orientations. In total, the range of works on view reflect Sharif’s humor and flexibility that was the source and result of his lifelong artistic practice. As the artist explained, “Sometimes I make some mistakes in my works, I keep them as they are without correction because I believe that ‘Art’ is a result of errors.”