Emirati artist Fatma Lootah has her paintings displayed in New York's Times Square

Lootah is the latest Nasdaq Artist in Residence

Emirati artist Fatma Lootah. Christopher Pike / The National 

Fatma Lootah, an artist from Dubai, has had her paintings displayed in New York’s Times Square.

Lootah, the latest Nasdaq Artist in Residence, celebrates Emirati culture and heritage in her works, which have been projected from the wall of the iconic Nasdaq building for the past few days.

The Nasdaq Artist in Residence programme aims to highlight a wide variety of artists by displaying their work to the many thousands of people who walk past the American stock exchange on a daily basis.

“We find inspiration each day by emerging artists working in the community,” the Nasdaq website explains. “We are pleased to highlight these talented artists with their unique and inspiring perspectives.”

Lootah, whose large-scale smudgy portraits are alive with colour, left the UAE in 1979 to study art in Washington. She now lives in Verona, Italy, where she says the “artistic potential is phenomenal”, but regularly returns to the UAE to exhibit her paintings.

In an interview with Nasdaq, Lootah said: “Travelling means getting in touch with the culture of other people. It is the richness that you gain and this richness makes you a better person. A better person means a good artist who can reflect this beauty.”

____________________

Read more:

Art Jameel announces three-month residency for arts writer

What to expect from the dedicated arts library opening in Dubai this November

Summer Reading Challenge: Could your child read 30 books this summer?

____________________