Galleria Continua Dubai -Burj Al Arab Jumeirah
8/09/2022 – 5/11/2022
Group exhibition featuring the works by Elizabet Cerviño, Zhanna Kadyrova, Jorge Macchi, Ahmed Mater, Moataz Nasr, Ornaghi &
Prestinari, Giovanni Ozzola, Nedko Solakov, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Armando Testa, and José Yaque.
Open every day | 11.00 am – 1.00 pm | 2.00 pm – 8.00 pm
Access to Burj Al Arab Jumeirah is by registration only. Register your interest at
www.galleriacontinua.com/reservation-dubai-in_the_heat
Galleria Continua is pleased to
announce its new exhibition,
continuing the gallery’s
programme in Dubai’s iconic Burj
Al Arab Jumeirah. In The Heat is
the second chapter of a series
of group shows, paying tribute
to the heritage of the Burj Al
Arab, and providing contemporary
response to the context of its
opulent interior designs. The
new exhibition, In The Heat,
connects with the theme of fire,
one of the four elements forming
the visual aesthetics of the
Burj Al Arab developed by Khuan
Chew of KCA International, and
follows the show New Wave
(7 July – 1 September 2022),
which was themed on water.
The context of the exhibition, which
opens just as summer temperatures in
Dubai reach their peak, makes the theme
of fire manifest in a variety of ways.
Some artworks presented in the show
explore fire as the element of creation,
linking to ancient mythologies as well as
the physical creation of materials like
bronze or ceramic, while others address
environmental and geopolitical issues
that are heating up in the world of
today. Exploring the various connotations
of the title, and getting further into a
dialogue with the artworks of the
exhibition, the viewers can reflect on
the element of fire as a source of both
creation and destruction.
The show is featuring works by emerging
talent alongside those by wellestablished and recognized names from the
international contemporary art scene.
Highlighting the long-term commitment of
Galleria Continua in the region, the
exhibition features two large-scale works
by two renowned artists from the Arab
world, Ahmed Mater (Saudi Arabia) and
Moataz Nasr (Egypt). In Ahmed Mater’s
Lightning Land (2017), the erratic and
unpredictable energy alludes to the
radical transformation that has
reconfigured the society of Saudi Arabia.
With the lightning striking and hitting
the ground, we are able see the new
developments taking over the horizon:
production factories and oil facilities
driving the economy forward – as the
empty land is being reimagined as massive
new urban centres.
Moataz Nasr also explores the
developments in current Arab societies,
while referencing the historical
traditions associated with artisanal
heritage, and connecting it with
contemporary narratives. Very attractive
at first, and shaped in an ideal
geometric form, his work Arabesque (2021)
is inspired by sacred Islamic motifs.
Comprised of thousands of coloured
matchsticks, it alludes to the sense of
unity created through the coexistence of
multiple individualities on one hand,
while the other showcases its fragility
and potential destruction.
Extreme heat is the element in creation
of bronze – the material used in the
sculptures Nocero Umbro and Creatura
Africana by late Italian artist Armando
Testa, one of the founding fathers of
modern Italian advertising. His works
introduced new forms and imageries,
shaping the art history with the unique
approach to pop culture imagery the moves
halfway between the linguistic
territories of realism and abstraction.
The work Charcoal Mask (2016) by
Cameroon-born artist Pascale Marthine
Tayou is created of black charcoal,
inspired by traditional patterns that
recall West African tapestries. A
material commonly used for drawing,
charcoal is also a sedimentary common
rock in South Africa, where its
continuous exploitation has led to bad
working conditions and environmental
damages. Knowing this, even if these
charcoals are formally attractive, the
work starts to shift from an abstract
landscape to a political statement.
Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova is
exploring the potential forms of
destruction through experimentation with
materials. In Experiment (2014), Kadyrova
is applying acid on the photographic
surface of the image of Kyiv skyline,
referring to the resulting chemical
reaction, as a form of evaluation of the
aesthetical phenomena of war in
contemporary society.
With heat at the beginning of the
creation of ceramic works by Italian duo
Ornaghi & Prestinari, Ritrovarsi (2002)
are made up of fragments of two broken
vases. Each different vase has been put
back together after having glazed some of
the shards of which it was composed. The
vase fragments find each other again
after different pathways. Damage of the
initial object in Ritrovarsi becomes the
beginning of a new story.
Cuban artist José Yaque creates
undulating abstract paintings inspired by
natural phenomena, often resembling
organic materials such as minerals,
plants, and stones. He creates his
signature works by applying the pigments
by hand and then wrapping his canvases,
in Lolingita IV (2020) the patterns are
appearing on the work like molten lava or
erosion.
In the work of Bulgarian artist Nedko
Solakov The Leader (2010), the large
golden frame is used to give an air of
importance to the work, but in an ironic
and humorous way. Solakov’s work is
showing an unmistakably poetic desire for
short narratives, aphorisms, and
comparative descriptions.
Deseos Y Ley (2019), Giovanni Ozzola’s
photography series, recount the light,
the epiphanies that take place in the
light, a light of sunrises and sunsets,
dying or rising, or dazzling, diurnal,
midday, a light capable of languishing,
when it is not overwhelming things,
blurring them, dissolving them, breaking
up their contours, then returning them to
the world as apparitions and intangible
presences.
Jorge Macchi (Argentina) has been working
on an extensive body of watercolours
since the mid-nineties. The series
Fragata (2010) depict a deep tie between
materiality and meaning, almost creating
a set of imagination samples. The
watercolours have been a way to
counterbalance a more rational and mental
activity.
Providing space for self-reflection,
Altar (2018) by Cuban artist Elizabet
Cerviño is investigating the sense of the
mystical, the spiritual and the
contemplative, based on synthesis. By
layering alabaster of different sizes,
Cerviño is reflecting on the landscapes
of Cuba. The visual strength of her
Altar, emphasized by the light that comes
from it, surrounds the viewer in a kind
of scene where there is only space for
silence and the intimate, a sacred and
personal dialogue.
Founded in San Gimignano, Italy, in 1990,
Galleria Continua has expanded its
galleries in Beijing, Les Moulins,
Havana, São Paulo, Rome, Paris, and now
with an exhibition space in Burj Al Arab
Jumeirah in Dubai. Remaining faithful to
the spirit of perpetual evolution, and
committed to engaging the widest possible
audiences in contemporary art, Galleria
Continua has built a strong identity
through its bonds and experiences,
thriving away from the conventional urban
centers, in completely unexpected yet
timeless locations.
The exhibition In The Heat is on show at
Galleria Continua space at the Burj Al
Arab Jumeirah, from 7 September to 5
November 2022.
galleria continua