Three artists from Dubai – Hesam Rahmanian, Ramin Haerizadeh, and Rokni Haerizadeh – have made an art installation to be shown as part of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi’s forthcoming exhibition in March.
The Haerizadeh brothers and their artistic partner Rahmanian have received worldwide acclaim for their bold, brash and often highly sarcastic form of art.
They do not restrict themselves to one medium and often create large immersive installtions that rely heavily on the aspect of performance and welcome the audience into their somewhat bizarre world. It is not uncommon to find all three artists appearing in their own art works in various costumes and attires.
It was this aspect of their work that aligns them with the exhibition of work from the permanent collection of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. The Creative Act: Performance• Process• Presence, which opens March 7 at Manarat Al Saadiyat on Saadiyat Island, brings together artists who have either used performance or relied heavily on human presence in their practice.
Valerie Hillings, who is overseeing the curatorial team for the Abu Dhabi Project of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, says in that respect, Hesam Rahmanian, Ramin Haerizadeh, and Rokni Haerizadeh were the “perfect choice” for a commision. “Echoing the artworks that visitors will explore throughout the exhibition, this commission will highlight the simple gestures and body language of everyday life, and the strategies used to overcome barriers to communication through creative practices. It’s been a remarkable experience to not only observe but also participate in the development of the installation, which is sure to be a work in progress up to and even beyond the opening, as it will inspire a multimedia public programme that will actively engage audience participation.”
The artwork the trio have created is a multi-room installation that will feature paintings, videos, and artworks specially made for the exhibition as well as from other artists including Nargess Hashemi and Laleh Khorramian. Titled Another Happy Day (2016–17), it will take visitors on a journey that will encourage them to consider how we represent ourselves in the world through words, images, gestures, and movement.
It also has a historical element, with video recordings of plays by Samuel Beckett and Bertolt Brecht and a performance of John Cage’s experimental music playing, dating back to the 1930s. There will also be objects displayed from the 1960s and 1970s network of artists known as Fluxus, who sought to blur the boundary between art and life and a library of books offering insight into the histories of the theatre and performance art.
In a statement released by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority the trio said: “What is great about this collaboration is that you become one body with multiple, critical eyes—critique not in a sense of diminishing but in a sense of seeing it in another way.”
