DUBAI: Emirati artist Badr Abbas fuses elements of Arab culture and modern technology to create eye-catching modern cubist art: Think sketches of gourmet meals on aircrafts, cryptocurreny, or sanitizers with images of ghutras, kanduras and dirhams.
Merging symbols from Arab folk heritage with facets of our modern lifestyle, Abbas’ unique interpretation of cubism brings together vibrant fragments to capture multiple perspectives in a single artwork.
“I paint what I feel strongly about. I am greatly influenced by my roots — by Emirati culture and tradition, which is something you will always find in my art. At the same time, (my own life) is also an inspiration, be it my childhood hobbies or my love for travel, fast food and technology,” Abbas tells Arab News.
‘Cola Rush,’ 2019. (Supplied)
Abbas’ work traverses the old and the new, enthused by his belief that technology compliments tradition. In his everyday life too, he treads between a dual world, pursuing a successful career in the aviation sector in Dubai along with his passion for art. “I have travelled extensively for my work, but at heart I am an Emirati, who grew up in Bur Dubai,” he says. “My art is a reflection of all of my experiences, holding on to my identity yet embracing differences.”
Often the cues for his work come from those two worlds he inhabits. His “Food for Thought” series, for instance, was created following a seminar he had attended on obesity — a major issue across much of the Gulf, where the culture of eating out is prevalent.
‘Chopstick Cotoure,’ 2019. (Supplied)
“‘Cola Rush,’ as part of the Food series, shows the popularity of cola over traditional drinks,” he says. The artwork shows a bottle opener, a vending machine, a cola bottle cap and a dirham interspersed disjointedly over the face of an Arab man, wearing a ghutra with an agal over it brimming with fizzy soda and a bobbing straw.
At Dubai-based art platform Tashkeel’s annual group exhibition, the 45-year-old artist is exhibiting “May The Force Be With You,” a painting from his “Hobbies of Yesterday” series. “This particular canvas is an ode to my love for ‘Star Wars’ and sci-fi movies,” Abbas says. “Collecting stamps, playing chess, reading ‘Arabian Nights,’ and the very popular Majid comic series are all childhood hobbies that I cherish even today. This art collection immortalised some of those memories.”
‘Crypto Bedouin,’ 2018. (Supplied)
Born in 1976, Abbas spent the first few years of his life in Bur Dubai, near Dubai creek. Art was an integral part of his childhood. ”I was encouraged by my mother, Durrea Abbas, one of the early Emirati women artists, to paint realistic art with water colors,” Abbas says. “Appreciation from teachers in school led me to participate and win many art competitions.” Aged 13, he became one of the youngest members of the Emirates Fine Arts Society.
In secondary school, however, art took a backseat as Abbas focused on academia. It was almost 15 years before he picked up his paintbrush again. “I still had that connection with art but there were other priorities,” he explains. “Finally, in 2005 I felt the urge to go back to painting. To refresh my skills, I did an online course with an art professor in New York.”
‘Sands of Time,’ 2019. (Supplied)
He went on to take several more such courses during his travels abroad, but his art pursuits remained inconsistent. “From that first impetus to paint again it took me almost a decade to be able to devote more time to art,” he says.
Abbas cites Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and George Condo as three of the main influences on his work, but says it took him a long time to feel that he had found his own style: “Around 2016, my art evolved to the present simplified cubist style that I felt was original and relatable.”
Today, it seems Abbas has mastered the perfect balancing act between technology and tradition in his art and in his life: crunching numbers at work, and getting creative at home.
