artparis-AbuDhabi : Modern + Contemporary Art Fair

Rokni Haerizadeh. War. 2008. Oil/canvas. B 21 Gallery, Dubai. Photo courtesy artparis AbuDhabi

For its second edition, artparis-AbuDhabi is returning to the Emirates Palace from November 17 to 21, 2008, to present a broad and impressive panorama of artistic creation of the 20th and 21st centuries. This year, the fair is strengthening its policy of selection and participation of contemporary art galleries active in the international market.

In 2007, artparis installed itself for the first time in Abu Dhabi, creating the largest fair for modern and contemporary art ever organized in the United Arab Emirates. The result: a turn over of USD 15,867,000 for a fair that attracted 9,200 visitors and collectors in just three days. This year the organizers are expecting more than 15,000 visitors.

With the support of the authorities in charge of culture and patrimony (ADACH - Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage), the art fair plays an active role in the cultural activities of AbuDhabi. Thus, the fair’s official inauguration will take place on Monday, November 17th in the presence of his Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crowned prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. 

On the grounds of the Emirates Palace, 57 galleries will exhibit several hundreds of artists, including Kader Attia, Paul Cézanne, Shilpa Chavan, Jim Dine, Bernard Frize, Alberto Giacometti, Damien Hirst, Henri Matisse, Shirin Neshat, Julian Opie, Yazid Oulab, Pablo Picasso, Thomas Ruff, Faisal Samra, Niki de Saint Phalle, Massimo Vitali and Andy Warhol, among others.

New for this edition eight young galleries emerging on the international contemporary art market are united under the banner of “Artparis-AbuDhabi Young Talent”. Each of them will be representing the works of a young artist yet to be discovered. Participating galleries in this section are: Galerie Epreuve d’artiste (Lebanon), Orel Art (France - Russia), Sun Gallery (Korea), Galerie Eric Dupont (France), Matthieu Foss (India), Xerxes Fine Arts (United Kingdom), Art Sawa gallery (United Arab Emirates, Dubaï), Langgeng Gallery (Indonesia).

Furthermore, Curator Amal Traboulsi will present the exhibition “Movement and Communication… Travels through desert and sea,” as part of the fair. Through photography, painting and video, the show features the way in which contemporary Arab artists have been moved by natural elements that are as intimidating as they are fascinating. Amal Traboulsi comments: “Visually, the desert is graphic. The wind passes, drawing lines; those which are associated with grace and immobility. Despite its aridity and dryness, the desert generates these visions that the interior eye of the artists express perfectly in all their magnificence. An insisting dialogue, the sea answers us, from the other side of the imaginary and like her ally the desert, speaks to us from the depth of our being. Monumental, yet continuously illusive in itself, the sea stirs our senses and emotions.”

Participating artists in this project are, Faisal Samra (Saudi Arabia), Shirin Neshat (Iran), Mateu  (Iraq/Spain), Danièle Chikhani (Lebanon), Chaouki Chamoun (Lebanon), Abdallah Akar (Tunisia), Ricardo Mbarkho (Lebanon), Salem Dabbagh (Iraq), Rachid Koraichi (Algeria), Mohammad Rawas (Lebanon), Maya Eid (Lebanon/Canada), Nadia Oufrid (Maroco), Amal Dagher (Lebanon/France), Jocelyne Saab (Lebanon), Omar Youssoufi (Maroco), Samir Khaddage (Palestine), Abdel Qader el Rais (Dubai), Majdal Abdel Beik (Syria), Joseph Abi Yaghi (Lebanon).

During artparis-AbuDhabi, a dozen galleries participating in the fair are setting some of their artists’ works free from the walls of the Emirates Palace, exposing them instead in the Monumental Art Garden. There the visitor will encounter works by: Philippe Hiquily and Allen Jones (Galerie Patrice Trigano), Vladimir Skoda (Galerie Baudoin Lebon), Julian Wild (Waterhouse Gallery), Igor Mitoraj (Die Galerie), Giuseppe Penone (galerie Triangle Bleue), Wim Delvoye (galerie Guy Pieters), Lalanne (Paul Kasmin gallery), N. N. Rimzon, Vivek Vilasin and Biju Joze (1×1 Art Space Gallery)

For more details about the event, please visit the artparis-abudhabi website on

www.artparis-abudhabi.com