The Annual Urbanist Art Collective Show set to open in Dubai

Urbanist Art Gallery’s Second Annual Collective Show is set to open 15 August at its prestigious venue in Dubai. The exhibition will showcase the region’s talented, emerging artists.

Since its founding, the Urbanist Art (UA) Collective show has been a success in each of its annual summer openings. The purpose of the show is for the Gallery to support emerging artists, as well as artists with significant contributions and promising beginnings. These artists are given the opportunity to present their works in Dubai, initially without a common theme. Because of the opportunity to participate, their works can reach the collectors and audience that the gallery has attracted since its inception. In addition, their works are added to the Gallery’s website and Artsy pages. The Gallery also collaborates with journalists whom report about the show.

The UA Collective since its inception has been a success, and we expect it to continue in this thread.

Nawar Shartouh, UA Gallery assistant and contemporary artist

I spoke with Nawar Shartouh, contemporary artist based in Dubai and UA’s gallery assistant. According to Nawar, each artist is free to select which artworks he/she would like to showcase, and the message he/she would prefer to communicate. “The differences between the artworks is what distinguishes the exhibition, in my opinion,” Nawar shares with me. “Even though each artist deals with different subjects, more or less, common artistic factors emerge.”

This summer, at its trendy location in Box Park Al Wasl Road in Dubai, UA Gallery will showcase the works of contemporary artists Semaan Khawam, Elias Ayoub, Diana Mardini, Kateryna Plyva, Lina Alkateb, Mahmoud Dayoub, Mohamed Bajano, Muatasim Omer, and Sara Otabashi. The opening on 15 August is expected to attract collectors, artists and art-enthusiasts from the local and regional audiences.

Semaan Khawam is an award-winning, Syrian-Lebanese artist based in Beirut. He works in both painting and sculpture, in addition to poetry and graffiti, addressing contemporary issues of migration and identity. His alias ‘Birdman’ refers to the freedoms of movement that Birds possess, and that humans do not. In his latest 2024 collection, he has joined the imagery of the bird i.e. ‘wings’ with symbols of ‘wheels’, emphasizing the importance of mobility in our contemporary times. The two paintings on display at UA collective show are from a series the artist names ‘Birdman: Wings & Wheels DUBAI Edition’. The vivid colors and symbolic elements express the artist’s longing for freedom, peace and mobility.

In his latest 2024, Semaan Khawam a.k.a. ‘Birdman’ has joined imagery of the bird ‘wings’ with symbols of ‘wheels’, emphasizing the importance of Mobility and Freedom.

Maie El-Hage, art historian and curator

Elias Ayoub is a contemporary artist based in Beirut. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University, and a Master of Arts degree from Kursk State University. His style ranges between Neo-Cubism and Neo-Expressionism, usually focusing on figures that have been stylized. The themes and subject matter that he chooses come from his background, heritage and life experiences in the Middle East. At the UA show, Elias is showcasing two of his paintings ‘Untitled’ (2023) and ‘First Anniversary’ (2023). According to Elias, “Art can be a way to express a subtle emotion, or to generate a smile on another’s face. This simple intention can be an ultimate aim in an artwork.”

Diana Mardini is a visual artist, interior designer, and jewelry designer from Syria. In addition to working in interior design and jewelry design for a decade, she also engaged in teaching Art. Since relocating to Dubai, she has been pursuing opportunities and promoting her art, which has evolved over time. Her early works focus on still lifes and portraiture. Her more mature work, such as ‘Stillness’ (2021) featured in the UA collective show, has elements of surrealism and symbolism. The whimsical characters in this painting have strong, emotional expressions and unnatural yet interesting colors, and seem to allude to different psychological states of mind.   

Kateryna Plyva is a contemporary artist with a Master’s degree in Art from Bohdan Khmelnytskyi National University of Cherkasy in the Ukraine. Her work is inspired by the indigenous animals of the UAE as well as the profound values that define life in the region, where the relentless strength of nature has forged a legacy of adaptation and resilience throughout its history. She has a particular style, marked by strong, curvilinear forms and a bright color palette. Of her works showcased at UA, ‘Arabian Stallion’ (2023) is a powerful masterpiece that captures the essence of the animal’s strength in the face of adversity. The painting portrays an Arabian stallion galloping with genuine and furious power. Each stroke vividly conveys the intensity of the horse’s movement, making the artwork a visual testament to the indomitable spirit and strength of the creature. 

Lina Alkateb is a visual artist from Syria, with a Master’s degree in Drawing and Oil Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University. One of her iconic works ‘Numbers’ (2022), which is featured at UA Gallery, is unusual and captivating due to its 3-dimensional qualities. As we look up into the painting, a figure looks down at us, and seems to be reaching out to hold us. We encounter a surreal shift in our experience from ‘viewing’ to ‘being viewed’. Most of Lina’s work is figurative, often to scale, and deals with techniques of breaking illusions and conventions.

Mahmoud Dayoub is a visual artist with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University. He has held several solo exhibitions, including at; the Aliencia França Gallery in Mexico City in 2014, the Bild Gallery in The Hague in the Netherlands in 2011, and the French Cultural Center in Damascus in 2007. He has also participated in several group shows. At UA collective exhibition, he is showcasing a series of illustrations drawn from the novel ‘The Beast’s Revolution’ or ‘The Revolt’ (1922) by Nikolai Kostomarov. In this polyptych of small artworks (each about 20x16cm), Mahmoud recreates animals inspired by the story in different states of rage on handmade paper. The result is a tumultuous world that enraptures the viewer.

Mohamed Bajano is a Syrian sculptor with a degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University. He also worked as an art teacher for several years. In his Stone sculptures, displayed at UA Gallery, he combines an abstracted technique depicting creatures of some kind with elements of symbolism. The figurines are attractive and often with an immaculate surface. The artist carefully selects the stone that he works with.

Muatasim Omer is a Sudanese professional artist, with both a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Painting from the Sudan University of Science and Technology. In addition to participating in several international solo and group shows, he also taught at various Sudanese universities. He also lived in the USA for a period of time in the early 2000s. His work is mostly abstract, where he incorporates different elements inspired by life in Sudan. His color palette is vivid, and he manipulates figurative elements at various scales to depict fanciful scenery that is pleasing to the eye.

Sara Otabashi studied Fine Arts at the Department of Drawing and Painting at Damascus University. She graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor’s degree. At UA collective show, she is displaying her collage work, with horizontally-oriented mixed media on canvas artworks. Her aim is to display the beautiful, architectural heritage of her home country, by focusing on pictures of homes in Damascus. She sticks to a neutral color palette, and concentrates on creating vistas by manipulating the perspective effect.  

The collective show will be a fascinating adventure to discover. Common themes of culture, heritage, identity, and whimsical fantasy emerge.

Maie El-Hage, art historian and curator

The Urbanist Art Gallery annual Collective Show thus showcases paintings, sculptures, and collage work in a diverse range of techniques, media and styles. Common themes of culture, heritage, identity, and whimsical fantasy emerge. The collective show will be a fascinating adventure to discover, so make sure to visit the opening, which is scheduled for 15 August.

Urbanist Art Gallery is a place where artists from the region as well as from the international art scene come together. The UA platform is an inspiring hub, located in the heart of Dubai, and is constantly active, collaborating with both artists and curators.

Urbanist Art Gallery’s second annual Collective Exhibition is set to open on 15 August 2024 at the gallery’s location at Box Park Al Wasl Road. If you’re in Dubai, make sure to pass by and see the show!

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To see more photos and stories, check the author Maie El-Hage’s account on Instagram here.