Renowned Emirati painters lead stellar line-up at Arts Club Dubai group exhibition

Work by Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim and Abdul Qader Al Rais join diverse list of regional names on show

Contemporary Middle East will be running at The Arts Club Dubai until February 25. Photo: The Arts Club Dubai

Cutting-edge voices of regional art lead the eighth Stairway Exhibition at The Arts Club Dubai.

The showcase features works by renowned artists from the region, including Emirati creatives Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim and Abdul Qader Al Rais. The pieces have been selected from the Farjam Collection, an expansive privately owned art collection.

Entitled Contemporary Middle East, the exhibition at the private members club in ICD Brookfield Place showcases pieces by Middle Eastern artists whose works fall across a spectrum of styles, techniques and aesthetics.

The Farjam Collection, founded by art patron Dr Farhad Farjam, encompasses Islamic, Middle Eastern and western art, including works that span from pre-Islamic times to contemporary pieces.

The selected pieces display the breadth of contemporary artists who have significantly contributed to the cultural dialogue and artistic landscape.

“We are enormously grateful to Dr Farjam and his outstanding team for their generosity and collaboration on this exhibition," says Ajaz Sheikh, group chief executive of The Arts Club Dubai and London.

"Having the chance to host the Farjam Collection at the club is something we are very excited by and showcases our commitment to the artistic and cultural talent of our region.”

The exhibition features eight works spread across two floors alongside the stairway wall.

Two Emirati artists are featured in the show; Ibrahim, considered an innovator of conceptual art in the Middle East since the 1980s, and painter Al Rais, known for his abstract aesthetic where he combines geometric shapes and Arabic calligraphy.

Tunisian-born artist Nadia Kaabi-Linke, who delves into her personal history of migration across cultures to create conceptual pieces, has one of the biggest pieces in the exhibition, along with internationally esteemed Iranian artist Farhad Moshiri. His conceptually rich work, which has its roots in the pop art movement, subtly explores displacement, transformation and socio-political commentary.

Other artists in the exhibition include Lebanese painter and sculptor Marwan Sahmarani, known for his techniques using thick and expressive brushstrokes; Palestinian-American abstract artist Samia Halaby, who is recognised for her play with bold colours and geometric shapes; and Iranian artist Siamak Filizadeh, who combines traditional motifs with contemporary elements.

This is The Arts Club Dubai's eighth stairway exhibition since 2020. Previous exhibitions have included Think it Forward: Selections from The Elie Khouri Collection; Faces and Places focusing on the works of Lebanese painter Huguette Caland; and Geometric Bodies, a group show of regional and diaspora artists.

The Stairway Exhibition: Contemporary Middle East will be on display at The Arts Club Dubai until February 25