Fisticuffs is art that encourages you to take a jab

For a selection of knock out pieces of art - a visit to FN Designs this month is a must.

Fisticuffs features punchbags that were used as canvases by 32 artists. Courtesy of FN Designs

It’s not often that you are allowed to touch artworks, let alone punch them, but in a new exhibition at FN Designs studio in Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue, visitors are encouraged to do just that.

Hanging from steel frames are 32 punchbags that swing and sway much as a normal punchbag for exercise would. However, these punchbags have been chosen as canvases for art in an exhibition playfully called Fisticuffs. Visitors are encouraged to weave in and out of the weighted bags and appreciate the art from all angles. It is the latest brainchild of Sheikha Wafa Hasher Al Maktoum, the owner and founder of FN Designs.

Sheikha Wafa – who is known for her quirky ideas that break down the perceived boundaries between art, the artist and the audience – is also behind Fakie, a skateboard exhibition where artists are encouraged to paint skateboards; and Piston Heads, where artists painted and designed motorbike crash helmets. She also is a long-time supporter of local street-art collectives such as The Brownmonkeys.

"Merging art and sports has been a growing tradition at FN Designs," says Sheikha Wafa. "For Fisticuffs, each participating artist was given a blank canvas to paint, not knowing what the final outcome would be," she says. "The result was an attempt to bring alive their imagination in a boxing arena. The artists typically take their cues from emotions, spaces and subjects surrounding them, converting them into striking revelations.

“Yet, like with most abstract art, viewers are left free to rough it out in the ring.”

Sheikha Wafa chose 32 artists – from the Spanish street artist Ruben Sanchez, whose quirky characters take influence from Picasso and Dali but maintain a cool, street-art edge, to the British artist Kathryn Wilson, who paints abstract land and seascapes.

“I was looking for a bold mixture of styles, ranging from street art to typography, calli­graphy, abstract art, sketches, drawings, illustrations and murals to echo both fantasy and realism with a graphic inten­sity,” says Sheikha Wafa. The effect is both engaging and memorable.

Across the hall, Marwan Shakarchi, who is known as Myneandyours, covered his canvas with his trademark clouds, while the graphic artist Mubarik Jaffery painted funky comic-book slogans using the words "Take That" in Arabic lettering.

“My work is inspired by Arab pop-art series and is an homage to [the artist] Roy Lichtenstein’s poster Sweet Dreams Baby,” he says.

The Jordanian artist Mohammed Hindash's punching bag features a more serious theme: he has painted his canvas with an image of an eye, broken and split down several vertical lines. He calls it Fracture.

“In a world where beauty and fantasy triumph over logic and reality, a line is drawn,” he says. “This line represents a shift between two worlds where our conscious and subconscious exist. These shifts explore stages of conflicts and insecurities, fuelled by the unrealistic expectations of societies we live in today.”

• Fisticuffs runs until February 28 at FN Designs, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai. For more information, visit www.fanndesigns.com