Since the launch of The NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery five years ago, landscape has been a recurring curatorial theme, foregrounding the experience of the UAE both culturally and physically. Curated by the University’s Chief Curator, Maya Allison, Speculative Landscapes returns to the question of the UAE’s landscape with a series of conceptual meditations on modern life in the UAE.
This exhibition features major new installations from four rising UAE-based artists, each of whom is gaining international recognition for their conceptual speculations on our contemporary world. Each artist offers a distinct lens onto the UAE and the region. The exhibition offers a landmark presentation of these important artists, both in terms of the scale of the new projects and the distinct voices and perspectives they offer.
Working from observations of life in the UAE and beyond, the artists reflect back our surroundings variously through the lenses of risk (Areej Kaoud), virtual reality (Jumairy), human-plant relations (Ayman Zedani), and the intersection of marketing with our metaphysical body (Raja’a Khalid). Collectively, these projects invite a contemplation: how might organisms – whether human or other – create, survive, and inhabit our natural, artificial, and virtual worlds, now, and in the future?
Speculative Landscapes is on view through December 7, 2019. The NYUAD Art Gallery is open Monday–Saturday, 12–8 pm.
For more information, visit The NYUAD Art Gallery’s website.
