Radiant Trajectory exhibition sheds new light on Dubai landscapes

The British artist Nathaniel Rackowe's first Middle Eastern solo show, Radiant Trajectory, exhibits the artist's perspective on living in urban environments through works based on the medium of light.

Black Shed Expanded, first displayed in Paris, is now at Lawrie Shabibi gallery. Courtesy Lawrie Shabibi

Nathaniel Rackowe is fascinated by the constant flux in urban environments. The British artist, whose first solo show in the Middle East opened in Lawrie Shabibi gallery in Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue in January, wants his audience to appreciate that dynamism as much as he does.

His art, a series of neon works and free-standing sculptures, incorporates industrial materials such as fluorescent tubes, scaffolding poles and brackets, and wiring.

Rackowe’s starting point for each piece is something he has noticed, which might to anyone else seem like a fleeting, or mundane, moment.

The largest and most imposing work his Radiant Trajectory show is an upturned garden shed, painted black on the outside, bright yellow inside and filled with neon light that spills out, giving the impression of an explosion of light.

“It is then my role to take something from that fleeting moment to create a piece of art,” says Rackowe. “In that way, I can give people a little longer to feel that transformative emotion of seeing the beauty in it and heighten an awareness so that it will be easier for them to notice the next accidental moment.”

Black Shed Expanded was commissioned last year as a temporary outdoor structure by Le Village Royal in Paris, where it was first displayed.

In Paris, the idea was to force the viewer to notice the difference between artificial light during the day – when the neon light is not easily noticed – and at night when we need it to navigate. In the Alserkal gallery space, the material and structure is intensified. It looks like a time-travel machine, surprising the viewer upon entry.

“The shed as an object is interesting for me because I draw inspiration from the city and urban environments, but I am also drawn to accidental architecture – things like sheds, outbuildings and temporary structures often say more about a city and the people who live there than the designed architecture,” says Rackowe. “I thought it would be interesting to take the humble shed and elevate it so it can rise up and challenge architecture and also deconstruct it to the point where you are forced to re-read it.”

Although directly referenced from the suburbs of London, where garden sheds are often seen weaving together more built-up areas of the city, Rackowe is convinced this piece will have a more universal impact because its core resembles a generic domestic structure – “the kind of house a child would draw”.

Rackowe’s paintings, produced after a visit to Du­­bai, draw many more local references.

Abstract paintings made from bitumen painted onto honeycombed cards depict partial skylines, metro tracks, construction-site hoardings and metal walls. Although they are technically paintings, Rackowe prefers to class them as part of his sculptural series.

“I approach them in the same way I approach the sculptures. The starting point comes from personal observation of cities. In Dubai, I was focusing on the transforming landscape, construction sites and the moment when day becomes night and street lights spill out onto the road. I wanted to create works that bounced between being flat, geometric forms and the description of something more three-dimensional.”

Rackowe’s show at Lawrie Shabibi marks a departure for the gallery, which usually exhibits Middle Eastern artists, yet seems well-placed in rapidly changing Dubai.

• Radiant Trajectory runs until March 7 at Lawrie Shabibi, Alserkal Avenue, www.lawrieshabibi.com