ART FAIR (Nov 2-4, 2018) Lawrie Shabibi at Artissima 2018

Lawrie Shabibi will present a two-person interchange between Farhad Ahrarnia and Shaikha Al Mazrou. The presentation combines two artists whose practices draw upon the formalism of Modernism and Constructivism to examine space and balance. Their practice includes a return to hands-on production, the contextualization of materials, and explorations of form, balance, colour, and movement.

Dance as an expression of modernity has been an integral part of Ahrarnia’s practice for the last ten years. In 2013 he was invited by the National Gallery of Uzbekistan to visit Tashkent and examine and respond to the legacy of early 20th century modernity and modernization of Uzbekistan under the Soviet regime.

Farhad Ahrarnia, Conversation Galante, 2018, Khatam (Persian micro-mosaic), 48 x 42.2 x 3.3 cm, Courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi and the artist

As part of this residency he looked into the culture and legacy of modern and contemporary dance in an Uzbek context researching archival images of dance performances and gymnastics, selecting and working on photographic depictions of female performers across several generations.

The result is a series of never before exhibited photographic images, printed digitally onto large panels of canvas and overlaid with patterns of embroidery, threads and needles. The series titled When Abstract Entities Circumambulate Her Charmis inspired by the compositions of Malevich and Kandinsky (for their Soviet links) as well as traditional Uzbek patterns. By depicting young bodies in challenging situations and calculated postures that demand a high degree of balance he introduces a web of references, which suggest arrested motion, entrapment, entanglement, acceleration and tension.

Farhad Ahrarnia, Held in a Lunar Synthesis, 2018, Khatam (Persian micro-mosaic), 44.5 x 33 x 3 cm, Courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi and the artist

Through Al Mazrou’s sculptures, configurations and use of materials she explores the interplay between tension and space. The key focus of her field of inquiry originates in the concept of uncertainty and expectation. Fascinated by notions of physical space, her sculptures and installations materialize as simple gestures that emphasize the representation of tension, weight, equilibrium and space. For Artissima, she will present new sculptural works composed of marble and glass that continue these investigations.

Combining rigorous concept with a renewed emphasis on formalism, the work of these artists prioritizes the visual and visceral qualities of art-making. The booth presentation lends itself to a certain dynamism - between male and female, the figurative and abstract – that is both conceptually and visually arresting.

Shaikha Al Mazrou, Fragile Equilibrium, 2018, Marble and glass, Variable dimensions, Courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi and the artist

Shaikha Al Mazrou, Recline, 2018, Marble, 78 x 65 x 65 cm, Courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi and the artist

Farhad Ahrarnia

Farhad Ahrarnia was born in Shiraz in 1971 and holds a degree in Experimental and Documentary Film Theory and Practice from the Northern Media School, Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Farhad Ahrarnia’s practice comprises a diverse range of meticulously crafted works that cover questions of ideological narratives, national identity and intercultural exchange. He is deeply influenced by the traditions of his hometown Shiraz; his methodology consists of ancient techniques associated with its indigenous culture such as embroidery, metalwork and mosaic to draw on sociocultural constructions and motives that reference national codes. The series of silver-plated copper dustpans and shovels embossed with fragments of Shiraz, explore Iran’s perished glory. With a sense of irony, these mundane utensils are transformed to recall the country’s historical richness and forgotten grandeur. His work is in several collections including Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; The Mohammed Afkhami Collection, Dubai, UAE; Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford, UK; Huma Kabakci Collection, Istanbul, Turkey; Harewood House, Leeds, UK; and the British Museum, London, UK. Ahrarnia lives and works between Shiraz and Sheffield.

Shaikha Al Mazrou

Over the last few years Al Mazrou has become known for her large-scale public commissions and sculptures. In 2014 Al Mazrou was one of five international artists commissioned by the Arab Fund for Art & Culture to produce a public artwork in Dubai as part of their event ‘Make Art Possible’; in 2017 she was commissioned by Abu Dhabi Art to produce a large scale sculpture entitled Scales and she has also worked on a number of private and corporate commissions for the outdoors. More recently, Al Mazrou is the recipient of a commission by Art Jameel for a site-specific sculpture at the new Art Jameel Centre due to open in November, 2018. Al Mazrou was born in the UAE in 1988 and received her Masters in 2014 from the Chelsea College of Fine Art, University of the Arts London. Prior to that she studied at the College of Fine Arts and Design, University of Sharjah where she is currently a Sculpture Lecturer. Al Mazrou’s practice is anchored in history of art, borrowing formally from minimalism and intellectually from conceptual art. Influenced by artists from the Modernist and Bauhaus Movements - such as Paul Klee, Carle Andre and Wassily Kandinsky - Al Mazrou uses the formal aspects of minimalism to engage in a current fascination with materiality in art.