Wadia Boutaba, 34, was born in England to Moroccan parents originally from Nador, north of Morocco. Her “full of colour” paintings depict her roots and represent the diversity and uniqueness of the Moroccan culture. She uses art as a means to express her dual heritage and the challenges from this she has faced since early childhood, and draws on potent memories and experiences from her life for her work.
“Huda Lutfi works like an urban archeologist, constantly digging up found objects as loaded fragments of history. She then re-packages them using bricolage and collage as interceptive strategies. Thus recognizable objects, figures, icons are hijacked, re-contextualized and made to tell a different story.
Playing on public memory and a shared iconography, Lutfi somehow flattens cultural timelines by coming up with such figures as a mummified Oum Kalthoums. Her focus has been on the historical representation of the female form, and how it translates into the everyday. Working with the form of dolls in their various contexts, Lutfi explores the multiple roles of women within visual culture: as active producers of it and depicted symbols within it” - The Third Line
Aidan Salakhova is a Russian artist, gallerist and public person. In 1992 she founded the Aidan Gallery in Moscow. At the 2011 Venice Biennale Salakhova hit the headlines when her work was politically censored.
Ayad Alkadhi’s work focuses on cultural and political topics of Iraq and the Middle East. Born and raised in Baghdad, Alkadhi left Iraq for a better future after the first Gulf war. Alkadhi currently lives and works in New York City.
Ghadah Alkandari is a Kuwaiti artist and blogger at Pretty Green Bullet. Her work can be found at dar.nur. She has been exhibiting her works both locally and internationally since 1994.
In her latest show, Mouna Sehnaoui reinterprets old illustrations of Lebanon by highlighting rapid changes. The old illustrations and her paintings where displayed side-by-side. Here are some of the paintings.
Byblos
Cedar Grove
Memories of the Metn
Together For Peace
Too Many Dragons
“From the ‘Godfather of Graffiti’ to the man behind explosive solo shows that gripped the U.S. from coast to coast, from an Iranian artist and active graphic designer to a French artist with strong ties to the international music scene, and not to forget the striking welder of metal mesh with traditional paint and canvas, Opera Gallery Dubai presents six major street artists: Seen, Mr. Brainwash, Blek le Rat, Mohammad Khodashenas, Charles Munka and Paul Alexis.”
Mohammad Khodashenas
Mohammad Khodashenas
Mohammad Khodashenas
Mr. Brainwash
Richard Mirando
Richard Mirando
Richard Mirando
Paul Alexis
Paul Alexis
In light of the unfortunate situation happening in Lebanon, I would like to remind everyone to remember the beauty that exists in this world and find the peace and forgiveness within themselves.
Some days I feel like I’m in enchanted fairy land when I’m here. It’s an honor and privileged to be part of this beautiful place.
Street artists ICY & SOT debuted their new show at Openhouse’s Broome Street gallery space. They get at themes such as “love and hate, war and peace, and hope and despair” in their pieces.
Both born in the 1980s, Iranian Street Artists Icy & Sot are equally fans and loyal students of all the stencil techniques that have characterized the western scene in the last decade. What’s fascinating in this story is that, despite creating work on the street since 2005, neither brother has been able to attend their own gallery show in person outside of Iran until this week in New York.
Her work ranges from photography to sculpture to installation, always stemming from her personal experiences and always emotionally autobiographical. She uses traditional fabrics and objects reworking them into collages that form various incarnations of the American and Iranian flag, exploring ideas of national belonging, as well as the conflicting role of flags as symbols of ideological and nationalistic violence.
She has produced an important series of works, both refined art and political statements; each of which is an encounter between the US flag and the emblems and materials of Rahbars native country, Iran. She uses real flags, installed vertically and horizontally, and sews a diverse range of materials onto them, while leaving the blue rectangle and its 50 stars untouched. These assemblages are composed of fine embroidered fabrics, bits of carpet, ornamental fringes, fragments of writing or whole texts, and, in some cases, yet more objects and images.
In a recent art exhibition in the UAE’s Meem Gallery, Mohammed Kanoo chose to depict various celebrities and politicians dressed in traditional Arab attire. In Fun with Fen (Fen meaning art) the Bahraini artist shows sense of humor by using digital prints of politicians and Hollywood celebrities like Will Smith, Angela Jolie, John Travolta, Barack Obama and Clint Eastwood to provoke viewers into thinking about the dynamics of international diplomacy and social tolerance.
via PSFK
Works by Morrocan Artist Wadia Boutaba
Apr 16, 2013
Huda Lutfi, Explores Roles of Women #Womanartist #Egypt
Apr 9, 2013
Aidan Salakhova Outspoken Series of Drawings “Persian Miniatures”
Jan 28, 2013
#Iraqi #Artist Ayad Alkadhi #Middleeasternart
Jan 16, 2013
Ghadah Alkandari, Kuwaiti Artist and Blogger
Jan 15, 2013
Ahmed Mater #Saudi Contemporary Artist
Jan 14, 2013
Mouna Sehnaoui’s ‘The Orient Within’ Exhibition at Beirut’s Aida Cherfan Gallery
Jan 7, 2013
#My #Khaleejesque #Magazine #Photoshoot and #Article
Dec 7, 2012
Light from the Middle East at The British Museum
Nov 14, 2012
Works From The “Street Art Show ” at Opera Gallery in DIFC
Nov 6, 2012
