Meydan exhibition catalogue

Etihad Modern Art Gallery in Abu Dhabi, UAE, encourages the creation of art with local references,

showcasing work from well-established and upcoming Emirati and international artists. Being a

dynamic multi-function art space it has left a positive imprint on society and contributed to the

cultural movement by attracting activists in this area in addition to the development of some

emerging talents. Etihad Modern Art Gallery’s ambition is the continuous revival of the emerging art

scene in Abu Dhabi, as well as opening a dialogue with the public, introducing new art concepts

while promoting the vision of its founder, H.E. Khaled Seddiq Al Mutawaa. The gallery operates an

open door, free admission policy throughout the week.

For more information, contact:

Etihad Modern Art Gallery, Abu Dhabi

Tel: 02 621 0145

Email: [email protected]

About Etihad Modern Art Gallery

Yiannis was born in Athens, Greece. For the past 12 years, he has been living and working around the world(Indochina, Qatar, Mexico, Ghana, India, Oman, Scotland, London and Athens). He is now based in UAE. With hisphotos he aims to reveal the surreal nature of seemingly trivial objects, spaces and moments, reflecting the idea thatour personal reality is a state of dreaming. He has presented his work in solo and collective shows in London,Athens and Glasgow. His work was commended at 2012 Sony World Photo Awards and was included in the finalshow at Somerset House in London.

"From a very early age, people build a personal symbolic language out of fragments of their everyday experience.Some of these symbols have deep roots in archetypal forms of our common legacy as a species. Through thissymbolic language we describe and interpret deep internal personal processes. Those symbols are usually made outof the most humble materials, out of experiences that are considered trivial and insignificant, like the curve of a shell,the sound of a pot boiling, the lights and shadows from the streetlights on the bedroom’s ceiling. During our lifetime,whenever we come across one of those personal symbols, we experience an instant moment of clarity. A momentstripped from the usual confusion and continuous noise of the conscious incontinent mind. Our analytical self iscaught off guard, unequipped to process and make sense, to extract a safe logical pattern or a "lesson" out of this.The symbol hits below the skin, delivering an instant message, like an echo from the psyche, raw and unprocessed.Some people live their whole lives in a state of calm awareness and observation, until all things around thembecome symbols, literally transforming everyday life into another dream state, a metaphor about the unconsciousreality. An artist is ANYBODY who can capture - in that precious moment of clarity- a line, a shape, a phrase, asound sequence, anything that works as a symbol for him. Albeit very intimate, this symbol could potentially invokemoments of clarity to other people, too. The human spirit spontaneously responds to all things true."

Yiannis RoussakisDigital Artist/Photographer

"Heritage Festival 3"Photography80 x 80 cm

"Racing Camel 5"Photography90 x 120 cm

"Fawaad"Photography120 x 90 cm

"Minarets"Digital Art80 x 80 cm

Mu'tasim is an Iraqi Visual Artist, from Mesopotamia, born in 1968 and graduated from Fine Art Academy-University of Baghdad in 1991.

One of his favorite themes is the horse, carefully placed in the cultural and social context of the Arabic world. Hiswork goes beyond the apparent representation of the form: Body features, garments, marks and postures, implyan inner underlying power of emotion and spirit, open to interpretation. The arist manipulates forms, materials andtextures, revealing subtle emotional states and deeper levels of psyche.A member of Iraqi Fine Artists Association, he gained the First Award of Young Artists 2005 in Baghdad. Firstpersonal gallery was in Paris M-Gallery in 2004. Second personal gallery was in Dubai XVA-Gallery in 2008. Thethird was in Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation in 2009. He participated in many joint exhibitions held in Iraq, UAEand France. Among his key achievements are: gold-plated ceramic mural to the late H.H. Sheikh Zayed binSultan Al Nahyan (may God have mercy upon him) in Al Ain Museum;; Al Hosn Roundabout in Umm Al-Quwain;;and many horse statutes of different sizes for Shadwel Arabian Horses Farm in addition to many horse statutes inother private farms in the Emirate of Dubai. He currently works as a professor of Pottery and Sculpture at SharjahCollections of The Art.

Mu’tasim Al-KubaisySculptor/Painter

"12 Months"Bronze

42 x 73 x 30 cm

"Jealousy"Bronze70 x 90 x 40 cm

"Courtship"Bronze

80 x 105 x 50 cm

"Small Horse"Bronze

39 x 30 cm

"Horse 3"Bronze

37.5 x 45 cm

"Horse 1"Bronze45 x 50 cm

"Houbara Flight"Bronze

31.5 x 42.5 cm

"Horses 5"Bronze21 x 50 cm

"Horse 2"

Bronze

71 x 32 x 9.5 cm

Dimitris KretsisVisual Artist/Painter

Dimitris Kretsis was born in Agrinio in 1972. He studied in Athens, initially, in 1990, in the Graphic Art Department of theAthens Technological Educational Foundation. He continued his studies in 1996 at the Athens School of Fine Arts, withR. Papaspyrou, Dimitris Sakellion, Dimitris Mytaras, and Zacharias Arvanitis as his teachers. In 2004, he attendedcourses in drawing, anatomy, and fresco at the Facultad de Bellas Artes – Universitad Complutense de Madrid.

In 2011, he achieved distinction in the competition on “Art Interventions in the Public Urban Space, with Painting on theBlind Elevations of Buildings” in Athens held by the Athens School of Arts and the Ministry for the Environment, Energyand Climate Change. Works by Dimitris Kretsis have been shown in group exhibitions in Athens and Madrid. He took part in the art exhibition in the “PLOES” series (2012) held at the P.& M. Kydoniefs Foundation on Andros,entitled “Salus Patriae”, with Athena Schina as the curator. Subsequently, he took part in the “Memories and Reality”exhibition, held by the Florina Museum of Contemporary Art, and in the “Routes of Art, 2012” exhibition at the MunicipalGallery of Lamia. This was followed by the “Kaplanon5/Depot/Small-scale Works, 2012” and the exhibition at theMoshandreou Gallery at Mesolonghi, whose subject was a tribute to Lord Byron. He also took part in a group exhibitionentitled “In the Aura of Forms and Colors”, held at the Paros Municipal Gallery.

In March 2013, he held his first personal exhibition at the Kaplanon5 Gallery and in May of the same year took part in“Art Athina 2013”. The second personal exhibition was held in Rhodes, in September 2013 under the name “The Seaswithin Me”. Wall-paintings and works by Dimitris Kretsis can be found in private collections and in major hotels inGreece and abroad.

"Jockey" Acrylic on canvas

60 X 80 cm

"Untitled"Acrylic on canvas

49.5 X 75 cm

"Eagle"Indian Ink on Paper23 x 23 cm

"Falcon" Indian Ink on Paper

20 x 20 cm

"Yacht in the Ionian" Indian Ink on Paper

21 x 30 cm

"Yacht (Blue)"Coloured Pencils on Paper23 x 23 cm

"Yacht"Coloured pencils on Paper21 x 30 cm

"Yacht (Colorful)"Coloured Pencils on Paper

21 x 30 cm

"Yachts"Colored Pencils on Paper

35 x 50 cm

"Yachtsmen on a Yellow Craft" Acrylic on Canvas 80 x 65 cm

"Yachtsmen at Daylight"Acrylic on Canvas 80 x 170 cm

"Yachtsmen (diptych)"Acrylic on Canvas

80 x 170 cm

"Yachtsmen"Acrylic on Canvas

165 x 240 cm

"Skipper (diptych)"Acrylic on canvas

185 x 370 cm

Svilen Petrov, though he left Bulgaria a long time ago, is well-known to art connoisseurs as one of the sculptor

consistently working in classic materials and genres. His works are traditionally associated with virtuosity of

performance and high professional erudition in the process of form construction. His compositions, figures and heads

carry a special metaphorical expression (achieved by complex treatment of surfaces be these metal or stone),

seemingly deliberately opposed to the traditional “roughness” of sculpting material.

Such feeling is not incidental and comes from the way the material is treated, and, in this territory, Svilen Petrov’s

creative thinking can be defined as pronouncedly elegant. This is hardly fortuitous, considering his sculpture education

at the National Academy of Arts in Sofia in the 1980-ies. And his high professional skills are obviously well-

appreciated in Abu Dhabi, where he chose to live many years ago.

Svilen Petrov works mainly with stone and bronze, and his creations seem connected with the classic forms and the

early decades of European sculpture modernism, rather than with fashionable trends. This is an intentional choice,

opposed to the modern sculpture, which seems to be falling apart and losing its integrity. Such decision deserves

respect because there is no “right” or “wrong” in modern art. Upholding of certain plastic means of expression

represents a cultural choice associated with the self-assertion of each artist in their specific context, and Svilen

Petrov’s traditionalism is of the type evoking pure joy – and making the world a good place to live.

Prof. Svilen Stefanov

Art Critic &

Deputy Rector of National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria

Svilen PetrovSculptor

Meydan exhibition catalogue

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Transcript of Meydan exhibition catalogue