SOLO SHOW AT LAWRIE SHABIBI, DUBAI Ishmael Randall Weeks: Boundary Space

Randall Week’s sculptures and two-dimensional works made of adobe, mineral substrates, rattan screens, mud, glass and metal constitute a world that emerges from history and memory, navigating between the contemporary, the archaic, tradition and folklore. Interweaving Mesoamerican and Arabic motifs, anthropology, politics and archaeology, Randall Weeks also adopts industrial design nuances, where the influence of Russian Constructivism and Suprematicism (Vladimir Tatlin and Kasimir Malevich), the Neo-Concrete artists of Brazil (Hélio Oiticica and Lygia Clark), Mexican Modernism movement (Matías Goeritz and Luis Barrangan) intertwine to open up a dialogue on structure, fragility, form, and popular culture within the creation of ‘new’ cities.

Exhibited together are wall-based, suspended and floor sculptures. The floor sculptures respond to spatial relationships of the human body, linking individuality to the collective group mentality. Chakana Penetrable, a hinged brass structure, is made from the repetition of simple geometric rectangles and squares based on the symbolic nature of the "invented" Inca Cross mixed with a visual reference to Oiticica’s Nucleos and Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulations. Ibeam/Toda las Tierras (Ibeam/All the Earths) is composed of three suspended I-beams in a single, head-high line made from fired earths from different pre-colonial ceremonial sites. Both evoke conversations about boundaries and their subsequent limitations.

Ishmael Randall Weeks, Concretos Penetrables (Chakana), 2020, Grout 700, bronze, corrugated steel, 250 x 250 x 250 cm / Courtesy of the Lawrie Shabibi and the artist

Ishmael Randall Weeks, Formas Básicas, 2020, Grout 700, wood, glass, iron, corrugated steel, 260 x 260 x 5 cm / Courtesy of the Lawrie Shabibi and the artist

Among his wall-based works are Formas Básicas (Basic Forms), a large square composition comprising smaller squares that make up a mosaic, and the intimate Código atemporales (Timeless Codes). Made from metallic grout, glass, steel and wood, Formas Básicas incorporates fundamental symbols and motifs drawn from the vocabulary of urbanism and architecture. Its parts assembled in a fragmented manner that can be arranged or rearranged in a multitude of ways. The viewer is thus engaged in an open dialogue on issues of past modernity and possible futures. Código atemporales function like time capsules with layers of collected soil and materials placed like sedimentary plates. Windows cut into these layers act as mini excavations and serve as a sculptural diary, with the time marked by patterns of materials collected from specific sites.

This exhibition coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Lawrie Shabibi and with Art Dubai 2021.

Ishmael Randall Weeks / Courtesy of the Lawrie Shabibi and the artist

Ishmael Randall Weeks

Ishmael Randall Weeks (b. 1976, Peru) graduated from Bard College in 2000 and attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2007. His work has been exhibited in various galleries and museums both in Peru and internationally, including at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern of Art, England, United Kingdom; MoMA PS1, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Lima, Peru; Spanish Culture Center of Buenos Aires (CCBBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina; The Drawing Center, New York, United States; Museum of Art of Lima (MALI), Lima, Peru; Macro Museum | Museo d'Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Rome, Italy; National Museum, Lima, Peru; The Museum of Arts and Design, New York, United States; Museum of the Bank of the Republic, Bogotá, Colombia; The Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Modena, Bologna, Italy; The Drawing Room, London, United Kingdom; Museum of Fine Arts, Mexico City, Mexico; the Bronx Museum, New York, United States; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, United States. His work has also been included in the Havana Biennial, the IX and the XIV Bienal de Cuenca, the 6th edition of (S) Files Biennial in El Museo del Barrio, New York and 2010 Greater New York and MoMa P.S.1, amongst others.

Randall Weeks has received numerous fellowships, residencies, and awards from a range of institutions, including most recently the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, Bellagio, Italy; MACRO Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy; the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York; NYFA, New York; Art Matters, New York; Kiosko, Santa Cruz, Bolivia; the Sharpe-Waletas Studio Program, New York; La Curtiduria art center in Oaxaca, Mexico. Randall Weeks is represented by Eleven Rivington Gallery, New York, Federica Schiavo Gallery, Rome, Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo Mexico City, and Revolver Galeria, Lima, Peru. His work is in several public collections including Lima Art Museum (MALI); JUMEX Collection, Mexico City; Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA); Museo d’Arte Contemporaneo (MACRO), Rome; Madeira Corporate Services Collection, Portugal; Albright-Knox Gallery, New York; Deutsche Bank Collection, London; Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Modena; Fondazione Giuliani, Rome; Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Florida; LARA Asiaciti Trust Group, Singapore; Mario Testino Art Foundation (MATE), Venice; SPACE Collection, California and The Perez Collection, Florida.

Randall Weeks currently lives and works between Brooklyn, NY and Lima, Peru.

Lawrie Shabibi

Lawrie Shabibi is a contemporary art gallery housed in Alserkal Avenue. The gallery supports the long-term development of the careers of young international contemporary artists. It focuses on those from the Middle East and North Africa, and more recently diasporic artists within the UK. From its inception, the gallery has also organized art historical exhibitions, working with an older generation of artists from the Middle East and North Africa region. By holding a regular programme of exhibitions, screenings and talks, publishing catalogues, and participating in international art fairs, Lawrie Shabibi has in the space of ten years been a forerunner in the development of the contemporary art scene in Dubai. Since October 2020, Lawrie Shabibi has a UK outpost at Cromwell Place in London.