25th Feb 2014 – Arabia Style
Christie’s is back in Dubai with an exciting program for next month, including an auction of modern and contemporary art from the region, which will take place at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers on March 19th and 20th. A viewing will also be open to the public from March 16th to 19th during the 2014 edition of Art Dubai.
The so-called Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish Art Auction was founded in 2011; this year, it will include masterpieces from the Pharos Art Collection and from the Maath Alousi Collection, comprising works of internationally reputed artists, such as Iranian sculptor Parviz Tanavoli, Egyptian painter Mahmoud Said, Syrian painter Fateh Moudarres, Edge of Arabia’s Saudi artist Abdulnasser Gharem, and Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat, to name a few.
A highlight of this edition includes participating artist Ali Omar Ermes, who will be donating part of the proceeds from the sale of The Sixth Ode, one of his paintings inspired by Mullaqat Al Sabaa, the seven highly respected Arabic poems, to UNHCR, UN’s refugee agency.
Besides the aforementioned viewings and auctions, Christie’s will put more contemporary Arab artworks on sale in October for its annual online sale. Finally, the auction house will hold its Important Watches sale at the same location, on March 20th at 7pm.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Middle East Brand Director Renaud Pretet and members of the Touchline board were recently received by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Higher Committee for Dubai Expo 2020 to present the special painting ‘Tawasul Al-Himam’ (The Continuum of Resolve) by Ali Omar Ermes. The great work of art was commissioned by Jeager-LeCoultre and Touchline FZ-LLC in celebration of Dubai’s expo theme.
East-West: Objects Between Cultures
Free entry
Tate Britain: Exhibition
1 September 2006 – 18 February 2007
Ali Omar Ermes, Shadda 1980
Watercolour and gold on paper
635 x 615 mm
Lent by the British Museum
The verse inscription relates to social equality. Like the Tachiste works displayed in this room, ‘Shadda‘ depicts a gesture imbued with meaning. Although some of these Tachiste works are reminiscent of calligraphy, Arabic script is given spiritual significance in Ermes’ work, as a written expression of Qur’anic revelation.
What is the relationship between image and word in this example of calligraphy?