Aisha Alabbar Gallery is delighted to present three exceptional artists at the Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2024, presenting a series of new paintings and drawings by Dubai-based French artist Bénédicte Gimonnet (b. 1969), Emirati artist Safeya Sharif (b. 1999), and an installation by Emirati artist Eman AlHashemi (b. Dubai, 1993). These artists explore the idea of 'home.' This exploration begins with a proverb: "Home is where the heart is"—a sentiment that resonates deeply with many, including the artists.
In this globalized world, the UAE stands out as a unique place where people of different nationalities call home. This year's presentation delves into how the UAE has become a home for artists from various generations and diverse backgrounds, and how the evolution of this nation's unique cultural, social, and environmental landscape has influenced their creative endeavors. Through the works of Bénédicte Gimonnet, Safeya Sharif, and Eman AlHashemi, we explore the intricate relationship between place and identity, displacement and belonging, ultimately questioning what defines 'home.'
Bénédicte Gimonnet is a French artist who has lived in the UAE since 2009. Her practice in painting, drawing, and sculpture comprises a deliberate explosion of bold colors and technical innovation, mixing supposedly unmixable painting materials together, and creating immersive, intricate, and visually seductive environments. Through a recent exploration of personal issues with identity loss and recovery, the artist reconciled with her repressed Peruvian roots, creating new drawings that depict lush and exuberant rainforest environments whose extravagant vegetation acts as an allegory for the mind, mapping a journey of self-discovery and reconnecting with its roots. The strong color palette references Peruvian folklore, while the compositions mimic the Amazonian rainforest that is deliberately not botanically, geographically, or seasonally correct to reflect the diversity of colorful experiences that shape one’s individuality and identity.
Safeya M.R. Sharif (b. 1999, Dubai) is an Emirati artist whose practice explores abstraction, spatial representation, and questions of authenticity within hyperreality. Safeya’s work bridges the gap between reality and imagination, inviting audiences into spaces where familiarity and abstraction collide. She disrupts traditional painting through unconventional materials, such as linoleum cutouts and canvas stretchers, expanding her practice into sculptural forms. Her visual language often incorporates doors and hallways, symbolizing safety and territory, yet rendered powerless when removed from their functional contexts.
Eman Al Hashemi (b. Dubai, 1993) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores themes around imagined and exaggerated spaces through her work. She focuses on impossible tasks, repetition, mass production, value, and the tension between productivity and inefficiency. Her artwork often features transformative processes like melting, cracking, warping, and waiting. By engaging with concepts of waiting, slowness, and transformation, AlHashemi critiques some modern expectations and unexpected aspects of time.
