DUBAI: “Hybrids,” a new solo exhibition by Bahraini artist (and member of the royal family) Rashid Al-Khalifa opened last night at Ayyam Gallery in Dubai International Financial Centre.
“Hybrids” presents wall-mounted installations from six of Al-Khalifa’s series dating from 2010 to 2017.
Since beginning his career in the late 1960s, Al-Khalifa has established himself as a major player in the Middle Eastern art scene. His “quasi-kinetic” works, which Ayyam Gallery’s press release describes as “seminal,” were presented in Washington, DC, in 1982. Over the past four decades, Al-Khalifa has exhibited all over the world.
His work in the past 10 years or so has focused on abstract and color-field art, examples of which can be seen in “Hybrids” — an apt title for works that blend painting and sculpture.
The press release stated that circles serve as a starting point for much of Al-Khalifa’s work, as seen in his “Into a Different Dimension” series, in which “the artist creates folds with detached sections of the circles, highlighting fragile connections between the shapes.”
Earlier this year, Al-Khalifa told Bahraini daily Gulf Today that he would have been an architect had he not become a painter — “Architecture is closest to my heart,” he said — and that interest is clear in his carefully constructed work.
“My artwork is a form of communication and sensorial engagement for self-exploration, for myself and the viewer,” Al-Khalifa said in a statement about the exhibition.
“Hybrids” runs until June 28. The exhibition is set to run until June 28 at Ayyam Gallery, which was founded in 2006 with a mission to “expand the parameters of international art,” according to its website.
