Tashkeel starts the new art season with ‘Recesses’ by Chafa Gaddar, a body of work resulting from a year of research and experimentation, which combines paper, painting, fresco and other media as a territory of skin, offering viewers an intimate and challenging experience of touch, colour, texture and material.
This is Ghaddar’s first solo exhibition in the UAE, and the third and final public outcome of the 2018/2019 Tashkeel Critical Practice Program (CPP) after Emirati photographer Jalal Bin Thaneya and Spanish artist Silvia Hernando Alvarez. It will be accompanied by a catalogue and public programme of workshops and talks.
“The Critical Practice Programme is designed to help UAE arts practitioners confront the primary principles of traditional techniques and challenge boundaries within their own practice that encourage curiosity and dialogue for the viewer,” said Tashkeel’s Deputy Director, Lisa Ball-Lechgar.
“Ghaddar’s problematisation of the fresco technique in her workis informed by extensive research in this historical technique that she started studying in 2012 while in Florence, Italy. It was created with mentorship from arts writer Kevin Jones, and artist, critic and educator Jill Magi.”
Exploring the traditional fresco techniques, Ghaddar said, “The ‘giornata’ – a day’s work or the mark of how much painting can be done in a day – is usually concealed in standard fresco practice. Rather than a build-up that needs to be covered, I employ it as a finality, a permanent mark,”
“In Recesses, I explore the paradox of a medium that can be timeless and vulnerable at once. I combine it with other techniques, particularly to process the idea of trace and fragmentation of time and space.”
She said that she wanted to contest the technique’s historicity to suggest new boundaries and territories.
“I relate to the sensuality of its surfaces that encapsulate every gesture and every error. I see it as a living material, constantly subject to growth.”
Ghaddar has been a member of Tashkeel since 2016 and previously exhibited at Tashkeel in the ‘Made in Tashkeel 2018’ group exhibition. She was the recipient of The Boghossian Foundation Prize for Painting in 2014, and is currentlydeveloping her first permanent and public art commission curated by Amanda Abi Khalil as part of A.I.R. Dubai Programme 2017 in collaboration with Art Dubai, Tashkeel and Dubai Culture & Arts Authority.
Tashkeel’s Critical Practice Programme is a professional development programme for UAE arts practitioners. Launched in 2014, it is customised to each artist, taking into consideration their practice and research area. They are guided by the artist’s chosen mentors to further their artistic endeavours and explore new territories that are presented in a public outcome. UAE-based contemporary visual artists that are part of the 2020/2021 edition include Mays Albaik, Hamdan Buti Al Shamsi, Hind Mezainaand Nora Zeid.
‘Recesses’ will run at the gallery in Tashkeel Nad Al Sheba 1, Dubai from 22 September to 25 October 2020, and will be accompanied with an engagement programme of workshops and talks (see below). The exhibition opens from 10am to 7pm every day except Friday, and admission is free. Booking in advance is essential via email tashkeel@tashkeel.org or call +971 4 336 3313. For details, visit tashkeel.org.
About Tashkeel
Established in Dubai in 2008 by Lateefa bint Maktoum, Tashkeel seeks to provide a nurturing environment for the growth of contemporary art and design practice rooted in the UAE. Through multidisciplinary studios, work spaces and galleries located in both Nad Al Sheba and Al Fahidi, it enables creative practice, experimentation and dialogue among practitioners and the wider community. Operating on an open membership model, Tashkeel’s annual programme of training, residencies, workshops, talks, exhibitions, international collaborations and publications aims to further practitioner development, public engagement, lifelong learning and the creative and cultural industries.
Tashkeel’s range of initiatives includes: Tanween, which takes a selected cohort of emerging UAE-based designers through a nine-month development programme to take a product inspired by the surroundings of the UAE from concept to completion; critical practice, which invites visual artists to embark on a one-year development programme of studio practice, mentorship and training that culminates in a major solo presentation; MakeWorks UAE, an online platform connecting creatives and fabricators to enable designers and artists accurate and efficient access to the UAE manufacturing sector; exhibitions and workshops to challenge artistic practice, enable capacity building and grow audience for the arts in the UAE; and the heart of Tashkeel, its membership, a community of creatives with access to facilities and studio spaces to refine their skills, undertake collaborations and pursue professional careers.
Visit tashkeel.org
