Alexander Gray Associates presents an exhibition featuring recent works by Hassan Sharif, accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalog and a conversation between the artist and independent curator Murtaza Vali. Sharif (b.1951, Dubai, United Arab Emirates) is recognized as a pioneer of conceptual art and experimental practice in the United Arab Emirates, and has highly influenced the region’s artistic landscape through his art and writings. Sharif’s second exhibition at the Gallery focuses on the his recent developments in two ongoing series, Semi-Systems (1983–2014) and Objects (1982-2014).

First conceptualized in the 1980s, Sharif’s Objects are anchored in the process of weaving, which he describes: “Weaving requires a very simple handicraft that is at once repetitive and non-repetitive.” Responding to the landscape of material culture in the U.A.E., which has undergone rapid social and economic changes since its independence in 1971, Sharif’s Objects are created from consumer products sourced from local markets and stores, including spoons, towels, floor mats, and electronic wiring. The selected works in the exhibition both transform and synthesize these materials, questioning authorship and labor, permanence and social stability. For Sharif, his Objects are closely connected to his own body and push notions of social exchange.

Sharif approaches his Semi-Systems with the same rigorous and repetitious method embodied by his Objects. Departing from his Objects, however, the Semi-Systems are connected to the cerebral. In February 2013 (2013), the artist uses self-invented calculations and permutations to determine a variety of possibilities for the shape of an angular line. Seemingly at random, he then selects some of the possibilities to depict on a large scale. At any point, the system is on the verge of unraveling, referencing the systematic but frenetic development of Modern Dubai. Both Sharif’s Objects and Semi-Systems embody the tension between order and chance, repetition and randomness, detachment and involvement, which are fundamental aspects in his practice.

Alexander Gray Associates
508 West 26 Street #215
New York (NY) 10001 United States
Tel. +1 (212) 3992636
info@alexandergray.com
www.alexandergray.com

Opening hours
Tuesday - Saturday
From 11am to 6pm

Related images

  1. Hassan Sharif, Copper 2, 2012, Copper, 34.1h x 30.7w in. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York
  2. Hassan Sharif, February 2013, 2013, Mixed media, 23.4h x 16.5w in, Part 2 of 4. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York
  3. Hassan Sharif, Iron No. 3, 2013, Iron and wire, 46.9h x 47.2w x 16.5d in. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York
  4. Hassan Sharif, Rug 4, 2013, Rug, tempera, glue, and copper wire, 126h x 72.1w x 12.6d in. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York
  5. Hassan Sharif, Detail of Seven Points Angular Lines - Part 2, 2013, Mixed media, 31.5h x 15.8w x 1d in, Part 3 of 3. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York
  6. Hassan Sharif, Weave 1, 2013, Rubber and cotton rope, 92.5h x 45.3w x 5.9d in. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York