‘FRAGILE’ at 1x1 Art Gallery in Dubai

“Delicate, shaky, vulnerable,
the world is feeling fragile today.
Even the earth is shaking in its own bed.
A collective consciousness or a personal feeling spread like an epidemic?
Is it the effect of praising ashes or one of building blocks?
Did we bring it upon ourselves or is someone else to blame for as it often goes?
Do we have to say it out loud or can we hear it in the language of the non-spoken?
I feel you, my dear inhabitant of our world,
we are all feeling fragile today.
A state overstaying its welcome…
But,
there is still glitter, and flowers to grow.
And great art to remind us about the reality of these days when we are sturdy and forgetful soon,
and how temporary all is.
setting our values straight…”

Vida Heydari

Eight artists from Iran, Pakistan and India share their perception of FRAGILE. Here you can read the concept notes of each artist:

Alireza Fani

“A Memorial For Today is a reflection of how we pass our days and our private moments with tremendous passivity…  a chronic passivity which we have apparently voluntarily invited into our lives. Our acceptance of this passive way of life has led us to turn a blind eye to our alternatives. It has become our daily norm. Perhaps our issues with ‘social un-relation’ are an outcome of adoption of our passive practices or do we just blame the outside world, as usual.”

AlirezaFani / A memorial for today 5, 2011, Face mounted archival print, 90x120 cm / Image: courtesy of the artist and 1x1 Art Gallery

Kaif Ghaznavi

“My work deals with situations of uncertainty and awkwardness, fear and pleasure, pain and endurance. I like to investigate these possibilities through conducting interviews with people with various backgrounds. In this work ‘Maang’, I consider the measure of cycles o rural villages where women follow lunar patterns of understanding time. She maps out this passing of time and space through circular rythms that elide linear duration, in an esoteric charting of the body.”

Mohsen Sadeghian

“Born and lived in Yazd city, in a hard and simple place, dark and religious tradition and homologous architecture, interest of painting and failures of educational levels, familiarity with poetry and literature, till catching a kind of ritual and local identity and a brief, reticent and maybe shy language, refining beliefs and previous trainings and archiving what I had and achieving new experiences… For me frame became the box and whatever I had in the archives came into the box. Box became my language. So poetry and objects become installation features of the boxes. Music and poetry are mixed up and new experiments are continuing… I also love being playful.”

Mohsen Sadeghian / Uuntitled 1, 2008, mixed media, 60x60x13 cm / Image: courtesy of the artist and 1x1 Art Gallery

Samira Nowparast

“For me, painting is the representation of a world I travel in it mentally. This is a world acquainted with nature; there you can smell the scent of the mixture of mud and straw, and hear the voice of horseshoes. There is no human, but you see his tracks. I trace these tracks. And sometimes I find human-made things; some of them are soft and delicate like a tanned skin, and others are hard and sharp like a razor, gearwheel or a piece of metal detached of something I don’t know what it is, but it seems to me a worn-out thing starts to move suddenly and take possession of something from the future, and claw at my day just like a memory that revives the old sorrows and tears.
Things, whatever they are, challenge the creatures of my paintings. These creatures are ‘Animal-likes’ that have a human identity for me. Sometimes they have abstract forms, and sometimes they appear as more figurative subjects; like horses struggle to escape from a space combined with gearwheel, strap and bridle, or stay and get acquainted with them, as in the series ‘Permanent Sketch of Mind’, ‘Sanctum’ and ‘Horse Factory’. I didn’t find any human-made thing in the “Estrogen” series. The ‘Animal-likes’ are blooming and fertile, and float in a ruddy seclusion; in seasons nobody knows their time, or in a utopia whose seasons were forgotten.”

Samira Nowparast / Metallic plain, 2011. Acrylic on canvas, 140x150 cm / Image: courtesy of the artist and 1x1 Art Gallery

Shivani Agarwal

“Through my art practice I depict the transient nature of things, people, situations and emotions. I have been using the red thread as a metaphor to express the same, which transforms, changes and binds.  It takes different forms and entangles and then changes back again. The dichotomy of attachment and separation, bondage and freedom is hence discovered. I use painting and photographic images also positioning and painting them to create an almost surreal situation.
I work with multiple images as it helps in expressing change and movement. Tender, sensitive, easily hurt and broken all these words refer to the transient states of mind we experience. Thoughts, memories and feelings are born one moment and disappear and sometimes change in the next, I am trying to gather these fragile moments and knit them into a story in my work. They are feelings so fragile that if they are not dealt with, they will perish in no time. I am trying to define fragility through transience.”

Shivani Agarwal / Un Shrivelled, 2011. Acrylic on canvas, 3 x 5 ft / Image: courtesy of the artist and 1x1 Art Gallery

Pooj Iranna

“Through my work, I present man made structures, which talk of human beings, their presence, expressions, mind and emotions without their physical existence. I was born in Delhi which fast grew into a metropolis along with me.Much before I could realize the metropolitan life around me became my cultural background. This is what eventually became the prime medium of expression for me as it predominated my whole self. Human persona has so many facets to it that I find it increasingly stimulating to portray it in my language using different mediums. My water colours revolve around the same vocabulary. The visual language here is not very complicated and even the colour palette is less complex. There is a intermingling of nature and man made structures to create spaces. These represent strength of structure on the surface and vigor of human convictions at the subconscious.
The latest works in which I use staple pins to make my sculptures is very synonymous to my concept of shaping of human life. It is about building of intellectual and spiritual character of people. Staple pins joint together determine the strength and energies of people coming together.These works represent human endeavor , not only for existence but making life harmonious from inside and outside. My choice of medium is guided by my thinking, reasoning and understanding of what I wish to express. Working with different materials but using the same underlined expression gives me a sense of gratification.”

Pooja Iranna / ‘The red wall’, 2011, Staple pins, 40 x 8 x 4 inches, Editions :1/3 / Image: courtesy of the artist and 1x1 Art Gallery

Prajakta Palav Aher

“There were many stories popping in my mind when I heard about the tittle of the show ‘Fragile’. It is very difficult to explain specific work as such. Like an perfectionist artist,my approach of working is very optimistic.I try to arrange the clutter of life through my work.I had soft corner about the unarranged (raw) corners of our life. Nowadays these corners are overpowering me…Though I am trying to arrange them with great efforts, they are bouncing back,as if attacking me.When I read the tittle ‘fragile’,it drew me to the experience of being pregnant…so delicate,same time aggressive.Out of my control.”

Parul Thacker

“City of light or a crystallized light all netted to form one truth of light – which is all illuming forever with a fragrance of beauty. The interconnected fibers are knotted together to form the base/a map of a region above our terrestrial existence that beholds this city of light.
Crystals which are truly an embodiment of light and energy are used as healing minerals by occultists and professional healers. It is with the same intention I use them, to spread its pure energy. Mesmerized by its form we are naturally drawn to them, at times for their colour or at times for their formless form and at times for the unusual glitter it has about a light unseen. I have been intuitively drawn to these minerals whose origin is untraceable but purpose and intent remains unchanged – that of parting with light and energy.
The fiber used is of nylon thread – translucent yet strong it holds these minerals together to form one complete form or map. My own creative map or perception of the land of crystals all held together by one thread, entwined to form dimensions of textures giving the illusion of space and depth. The angular pyramidal stitches form the invisible structures of light or energy. Each one formed by its own dynamic momentum, one leading to another by a single thread of faith, consistently mapping itself until at last the city unveils itself.
My process doesn’t end here, in fact it has just begun, a task to create not just one city of light instead the city growing into a land, a land enlarging itself on earth and the earth spreading its light on the entire universe.”

Parul Thacker / Holy ash - 01, 2010. Ash used from sacred places, Himalayan crystal,silk fibers, nylon, hand made paper, fishing net; hand stitched and hand woven with the ari needle. Height:152.5 cm, width: 152.5 cm, depth: 30 cm / Image: courtesy of the artist and 1x1 Art Gallery

1x1 Art Gallery

Warehouse No 4, Plot No 364-22, Al QuozInd 1
P O Box 214723, Dubai