EXHIBITION AT LAWRIESHABIBI, ALSERKAL AVENUE, DUBAI (Sep 18-Nov 10, 2016) ‘Bodies’, a Solo Exhibition by Hamra Abbas

At the heart of the exhibition is a new sculpture, the second in her 'Barakah Gifts' series - the first of which is currently being installed at the American Embassy in Islamabad as part of the Art in Embassies programme. Abbas’s 'Barakah Gifts' are large-scale reproductions of commercial souvenirs sold as mementos for pilgrims at the markets adjacent to the two holy mosques. Taking representative images of the holy sites and transforming them into everyday items such as water bottles, paperweights, clocks and plates, many of these trinkets find their way back to the pilgrim’s homes or are distributed as gifts for family and friends. 'Barakah Gift II', a pen holder comprising a colourful composition of shiny minarets, shimmering balls and the Kaaba, is taken from a souvenir she collected whilst on Umrah in 2012. Transformed into an ostentatious and absurdly large installation, it reveals the seductive interplay between commerce and devotion.

In contract to the boldness of the Barakah Gifts are three woodcarvings that are testaments to the artists’ observance of everyday life in the homes and on the streets of Lahore. Carved from sheesham wood and then painted by the artist, these works are hyperrealist sculptures that create icons out of the ordinary. 'Plastic Flowers I' is an intimate wall-mounted piece taken from a picture she took in her mother-in-law’s house of a portrait with prayer beads and a stalk of plastic flowers hung over the frame. 'Plastic Flowers II' depicts a plastic flower stuck with scotch tape underneath a surveillance camera spotted by the artist in an ATM booth. 'Bodies' on the other hand is a group of intricately carved wooden footwear taken from photos Abbas had taken outside the entrances to holy sites and family homes – a marker of segregation between inside and outside, clean and dirty, sacred and the profane. Each of these sculptures has been timelessly rendered, giving the original mundane objects a weight and presence that goes far beyond the accidental.

Hamra Abbas, Plastic Flowers 1 (Detail), 2016, Sheesham wood, oil paints, Variable dimensions / Courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi and the Artist

Switching from sculpture to photography is 'Sweet and Savory', a sentimental photograph of two small piles of rice left on a security barrier at the entrance to Data Darbar, one of the most revered shrines in Lahore and dating back to the 11th Century one of its oldest. Food is distributed here every day for the visitors who come from afar on a daily basis, but the rice on the edge of a security barrier is seemingly for the birds. In recent years social and religious practices at public sites in Pakistan have come under immense threat: in 2010 for example Data Darbar was subject to a terrorist attack which killed scores of people and is currently subject to tightened security. The sweet and savoury rice placed humbly on the security barrier highlights the current state of unease in Pakistan’s devotional sites: of the coexistence of both hospitality and hostility.

Hamra Abbas, Sweet and Savory, 2016, Duratrans Lightbox, 44.5 x 62 cm, 17.5 x 24.4 in / Courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi and the Artist

Finally in 'One Rug, Any Colour' Abbas uses a selection of coloured nylon prayer rugs bought by her on Amazon. According to the artist prayer rugs depicting the Kaaba have recently fallen out of favour, unlike in the past, when such images on prayers rugs were quite common.Hence finding them in the markets of Lahore today can be impossible. The piece also recalls an incident on Umrah, when a woman handed the artist one in a small bag as she was leaving the Prophets’ Mosque in Medina. Her own personal Barakah gift, this work also continues the artist’s fascination with colour and of representations of the Kaaba, a throwback to her first LawrieShabibi show exhibition ‘Kaaba Picture as a Misprint’ in April 2013.

Hamra Abbas

Portrait of Hamra Abbas / Courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi and the Artist / Photo by Nashmia Haroon

Abbas was born in Kuwait in 1976 and received her BFA and MA in Visual Arts from the National College of Arts, Lahore in 1999 and 2002 respectively before going on to the Universitaet der Kuenste in Berlin in 2004 where she received the Meisterschueler. Abbas currently lives and works between Lahore and Boston.

Her most recent solo exhibitions include But Can You Show this in Pakistan? PILOT, Istanbul, Turkey, 2015; Kaaba Picture as a Misprint, LawrieShabibi, Dubai, UAE, 2014; Wall Hanging I, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA, USA, 2013; Hamra Abbas, Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai, India, 2012; City and the Everyday, PILOT, Istanbul, Turkey, 2012; Idols, Canvas, Karachi, Pakistan, 2012. Her most recent group exhibitions include ones at the Accademia di Brera, Milan, Italy, 2016; And Nothing but the Truth: Parrhesia II, KOEL Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan, 2015; Art Dubai Contemporary, LawrieShabibi, Dubai, UAE, 2015; Whorled Explorations, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi Island, India, 2014; UNTITLED Art Fair, with LawrieShabibi and Copperfield gallery, Miami Beach, FL, USA, 2014; The Shade of the Moon, Changwon Sculpture Biennale, South Korea, 2014; The Importance of Staying Quiet, Yallay Gallery, Hong Kong, 2014; Censorship, The 7th Move on Asia, Alternative Space Loop, Seoul, South Korea, 2014; ALL ABOUT THESE... LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, Soma Mexico DF, Mexico City, Mexico, 2014; LIEBE / LOVE, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany, 2014; The 2013 de Cordova Biennial, Lincoln, MA, USA, 2013; Echoes: Islamic Art and Contemporary Artists, Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, Kansas, USA, 2013; SIGNS TAKEN IN WONDER: Searching for Contemporary Istanbul, MAK Vienna, Austria, 2013.

Her works are part of notable international public collections including the Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels, Belgium; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas, USA; Kadist Collection, Paris, France; British Museum, London, UK; Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon, India; Kiran Nader Museum of Art, New Delhi, India; Art In Embassies Collection, USA; Koç Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey and Borusan Contemporary Art Collection, Istanbul, Turkey.

LawrieShabibi

LawrieShabibi is a contemporary art gallery housed in Dubai's Alserkal Avenue. The gallery supports the long-term development of the careers of young international contemporary artists with a focus on those from the Middle East and North Africa. The gallery also organizes art historical exhibitions working with an older generation of artists from the region. Liaising with curators, institutions, museums and collectors the gallery has successfully introduced international artists to the region whilst at the same time presented Middle Eastern artists to the international contemporary arts community. By holding a regular programme of exhibitions, screenings and talks, publishing catalogues and participating in international art fairs, LawrieShabibi has in the space of five years been a forerunner in the development of the contemporary art scene in Dubai.

The private preview will be on September 18, at 6 PM. Artist Talk and Breakfast with Mahnaz Fancy will be on September 19 at 10 AM. The exhibition will run until November 10.