Spanish installation artist Daniel Canogar will hold his first solo exhibition in the region at Galloire Art Gallery in City Walk, Dubai on January 23.
The Spanish artist has previously exhibited work in the Middle East, with an interactive audiovisual project titled Dynamo in the Spain Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. Produced in collaboration with the composer Francisco Lopez, the work — with three sculptural screens shaped like interlaced loops that responded to visitor input by generating audiovisual content — proved incredibly popular.
He also presented an ambitious building-sized laser projection titled Bifurcation at Saudi Arabia's annual light and art festival, Noor Riyadh, in 2021.
In his new Dubai solo show, Loose Threads, Canogar will showcase today’s technological reality, exploring the many fabrics and patterns that weave informational threads together and how vast amounts of data shape our digitised lives.
From cables, base plates and input ports to data flows, ones and zeros, the textile dimension of technology will be presented in Dubai, a city and region that Canogar believes is the perfect location for his concept.
"The Arab world has a fascinating history and deep tradition in fabrics and textiles, having led the world in artistry and quality for a time,” Canogar said.
“More than just items to be gifted or traded, fabrics represented and told the stories of culture, society, politics and economics. Combining that history with the backdrop of today's Dubai, very much a city of the future and leading the way in so many aspects of the digital age, made it the perfect place to present Loose Threads."
Over the years, Canogar has studied and explored how mobile devices have transformed the world through overstimulation and exposure to extreme and exaggerated versions of reality. He has translated these observations into a series of interactive works including Ripple in 2016, Billow in 2020 and Chyron in 2022.
Loose Threads questions many aspects of the modern world, from financial fragility, to life and death during the pandemic, through a calm and reflective experience in an attempt to allow the viewer to better process these crucial issues.
Scroll through images of public sculptures in Abu Dhabi below
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'The Emerging Man' sculpture features a giant head emerging from the water located on the Yas Bay Waterfront, Abu Dhabi. Khushnum Bhandari / The National -
'Flower Parent and Child', a golden sculpture created by Takashi Murakami on the Yas Bay Waterfront promenade, Abu Dhabi. Khushnum Bhandari / The National -
'Astrocat', one of four sculptures by CoolRainLabo along the Yas Bay Waterfront, Abu Dhabi. Khushnum Bhandari / The National -
This seated sculpture is one of four 'Astrocat' installations at Yas Bay Waterfront. Photo: Yas Bay Waterfront -
The Masdar Park camel art installation in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National -
The Fountain Circle along Al Maryah Street and Zayed The First Street in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National -
A multimedia installation made from items found on a shipwreck by Ayesha Hadhir Al Mheiri at the New Fish Market, Mina Zayed in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National -
The work by Ayesha Hadhir Al Mheiri is made from recycled waste found in the ocean. Victor Besa / The National -
Noh Juno's sculpture features two figures holding the 'Flame of Hope' at the permanent exhibition Special Olympics Gardens outside Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi. Khushnum Bhandari / The National -
Lebanese artist Nadim Karam's 'Grasping the World' at the Special Olympics Gardens outside Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi. Khushnum Bhandari / The National -
Wooden carvings by Wael Shawky at the Special Olympics Gardens. Khushnum Bhandari / The National -
A plastic tree by Cameroonian artist Pascale Marthine Tayou at the Special Olympics Gardens. Khushnum Bhandari / The National -
'Affinity', a mirrored bridge by Mehmet Ali Uysal at the Special Olympics Gardens. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
