Mohamed Al Mazrouei | NO
Aisha Alabbar Gallery, Dubai
2 March – 29 May 2022
Aisha Alabbar Gallery presents NO, a solo exhibition by prominent Emirati artist and poet MOHAMED AL MAZROUEI. Comprised new and existing works that date back to the 1980s, NO becomes a gesture to follow a thread in his practice and shows his interest in language’s dynamism.
The concept behind Mohamed Al Mazrouei’s first exhibition at Aisha Alabbar gallery comes from a textile remnant found along the street in Cairo. The artist noticed how this fragment with the English word “NO” reflected his current intention and orientation, feeling alienated, not geographically, but as a personal feeling of estrangement or expression of nostalgia.
Having spent the first part of his life in Egypt before moving to the UAE nearly four decades ago, Al Mazrouei’s work is perhaps best described as autobiographical. The works in the exhibition play on memory by taking moments from childhood and indirectly to speak to how our understanding of language is shaped during this time. When concepts are cemented, the image fades. Influenced by the exploration of identity and inspired by African masks, his work draws on sources from around the world. One cannot look at his female figures without recalling the portraits created by Schiele or Basquiat, nor Mahmoud Said’s seductive canvases, which feature exaggerated colours and forms, ‘adopted’ by the Egyptian surrealist movement in the early 1940s.
Known for bold expressions, especially in his paintings of figures, portraits and visual experiments, Mohamed Al Mazrouei uses colour independently, free from restrictions or rules. He is often labelled a ‘neo-expressionist’, although his practice cannot be classified into a one-dimensional category. Strong lines and dark eyes delineate his figures. The faces and bodies are intentionally distorted to emphasise desire, petulance, and rage, at times in a provocative and horrifying manner. In Untitled 64 (1998), Al Mazrouei applies vibrant colours juxtaposed with black lines on a colour block background. He balances primitive instincts with mastered awareness to create his unique visual language. Or in Untitled 4 (2013) and Untitled 10 (2012), the faces lack distinct features, and are suggestive of the fading memory of his youth.
Portraiture also comprises a large part of his practice. Whether in paintings or in works on paper, he continually reinterprets a subject using the technique of mixed abstraction figuration. Although created 13 years apart, Untitled 120 (2007) and Untitled 123 (1994) show variations in the use of eccentric gestures and facial expressions, through which Mohamed Al Mazrouei conveys urgency by relentlessly interrogating the body and suggests self-reflection in blending corporeality and sensuality that poses existential questions.
Mohamed Al Mazrouei’s “NO” finds recurrence essential: elements are determinedly repeated within the same piece, a subject is repeated in several pieces, or a theme is repeated through psychological manifestation. The artist develops a unique visual language through repetition, where elements are experienced as pure forms, balanced between primitive instincts and learned awareness.
MOHAMED AL MAZROUEI (Tanta, 1962) is an Emirati artist, poet, and writer. He studied ancient languages at the Faculty of Languages and Translation at Al Azhar University in Cairo. He moved to Abu Dhabi in the early Eighty’s to eventually become instrumental to the Cultural Foundation and establish himself as a prominent artist, writer, photographer as well as manager of the Emirates Writer’s Union. He has written and published nine books of short stories and poems. His art practice – mainly painting in a signature Neo-Expressionist style – allows viewers to enter the world of his vast imagination. His artworks are rich with figurative iconography and include many humanoid forms. Mohamed Al Mazrouei’s paintings depict a feeling of fervour and urgency that invites the viewer to follow every brushstroke. The human face and figure are often his preferred subjects to paint. However, with a rich, non-linear training, Mazrouei’s approach to the abstract incorporates black and white in absolute purity. Like letters or musical notes, lines and colours fuse to create a composition that strives for a sense of equilibrium. His delineation of a particular object challenges traditional shapes, begging the eye to decipher elements of his compositions. In the past four decades spanning his career, Mohamed Al Mazrouei held several solo exhibitions in the UAE and abroad, including Raw Cooked (2017), AB43 Contemporary, Zurich, Switzerland; Prototype (2016), Mojo Gallery, Dubai, UAE; Maidens of Fair (2012), Abu Dhabi Theatre, Abu Dhabi, UAE; and The Smell (1990), Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Additionally, he participated in several important exhibitions, including Portrait of a Nation I and II (2022 and 2017), Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Artists and the Cultural Foundation: The Early Years (2018), Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi, UAE; (Alibadah): Hashel Al Lakmi and Mohamed Al Mazrouei (2018), NYUAD Art Gallery – Project Space, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Noah’s Ark: the 34th Emirates Fine Art Society’s Annual Exhibition(2016), Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE; There Are Too Many Walls but Not Enough Bridges (2015), Kunstzeughaus, Rapperswil/Zurich, Switzerland; Sky Over the East (2014), Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, UAE; 3 rd Emirati Expressions: Realised (2013), Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE; MinD/Body: Body Art and Performance in the Gulf (2013), Ductac’s Gallery of Light, Dubai, UAE; the 3rd Al Kharafi Biennial (2010), Kuwait City, Kuwait; and the 1st Sharjah Biennial (1993), Sharjah, UAE. Mohamed is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Jury Prize (2012) at the 30th Emirates Fine Arts Society Exhibition, Sharjah, UAE and the 1st Award in Photography from Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Furthermore, his works can be found in prominent public and private collections in the UAE, such as ADMAF, Cultural Foundation, and UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abu Dhabi; Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah; and the Qatari Ministry of Culture in Doha; in addition to several private collections around the world.
AISHA ALABBAR GALLERY
S1 Mag Warehouse 101, Al Quoz 2, Dubai
_______________
