ART DUBAI, Booth: B15 (29 March - 3 April 2021) The Third Line at Art Dubai 2021

This year’s presentation is a myriad of different styles and materials showcasing a wide variety of artworks that reflect the individuality and uniqueness of each artist’s technique.

Jordan Nassar's hand-embroidered works explore the intersections of art, ethnicity, and the entrenched conceptions of heritage and homeland. Nassar employs geometric designs reminiscent of Palestinian tatreez, which are commonly seen on pillows, clothes, and other household textiles. The works shown in this presentation are an exercise for the artist in composition, conceptually moving from mountains to little stones or pebbles, if you will. These are an experiment in formal considerations and compositions. This style of work was something that Nassar has been imagining lately and wanted to deviate from the usual motifs that he chooses to depict.

Jordan Nassar, Pebbles on a Slope, 2021. Hand embroidered cotton on cotton, 41.91 x 45.72 cm / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s 2018 work titled ‘Kinetic Diamond’ is a mirror mosaic representation of geometrical figures, framed by curtains of reverse-painted plexiglass strands that one imagines could oscillate in the wind. Suspended from the frame of the work are pendants that mirror the geometrical shapes of the piece from which it hangs. The reflective surfaces that host the various geometrical shapes are to realize that the mirror has been shattered in what seems like the ultimate gesture, materializing both Monir’s avant-garde practice and her forever young and playful spirit. The fragmented planes also hint at the historical origins of the mirror mosaics used in Iranian architecture: in the 18th century, mirrors imported from Europe that arrived broken were salvaged by local craftsmen, who reassembled cracked elements into patterns imitating traditional Iranian tiles.

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmian, Kinetic Diamond, 2018. Mirror and reverse plexiglass painting, reverse glass painting on plaster and wood, 125 x 165 cm / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Nima Nabavi's first painted work, as well as the artist's largest to date. For the past few years, Nabavi has been working almost exclusively with technical ink pens on archival paper. While that medium enabled him to thoroughly explore and learn the intricacies of the geometric structures, the artist was also growing eager to add a deeper dimension and larger scale to his work. Using pigment paint on ultra-fine Belgian linen, Nabavi painted 16,384 pixels in 16 colours, according to a predetermined coded pattern which he had envisioned to create a polychromatic burst at its central horizon. On top of this base layer, the artist drew thousands of painted lines with the same rhythmic vibrations which he had been employing in his earlier pieces on paper. These black lines, each only 0.7mm in width, intersect and combine to add an undulating, living texture to the work and a visual feel more akin to woven fabric. This piece marks the start of a new stage in Nabavi’s practice with a border array of tools and an expanded depth of possibility.

Nima Nabavi, 2020.11.13, 2020. Pigment Paint on Linen, 165.1 x 83.82 cm, Installation view / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist

Rana Begum’s use of fundamental forms such as the square, circle and triangle act as the starting point to achieve a more complex order. She continuously investigates materials and shapes, enabling her to produce a visual experience; the sculptural object is given life and is activated by interactions with light. Tone and colour allow for freedom and an intuitive response in the process of making. The result is a work of tightly controlled compositions where the viewer is required to adjust their position, to make the work unravel. By coercing interaction, Begum orchestrates a situation whereby moving around the works, the viewer witnesses the chaos of shapes aligning themselves into fleeting moments of symmetry.

Rana Begum, No.532, 2014. Paint and lacquer on mild steel, 190 x 101 x 29 cm / Courtesy of The Third Line and the artist