In New York, Arab artists send out a message
Gulf News, February 26, 2020
By Fawaz Turki
Our destination today, a mere one block up the street, is the Grey Art Gallery — located on campus within the Silver Centre — a fine art museum which distinguishes itself by emphasising art’s historical, cultural and social context, and claims its mission to be “the collection, study, interpretation and exhibition of evidence of human culture”. A lofty mission indeed, you will no doubt agree.
One could not think of a more serendipitous backdrop — an acclaimed park, a cool neighbourhood and a cosmopolitan academic institution — for the exhibition billed ‘Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab world, 1950s-1980s’, slated to run from January 14 to April 4. On display is a collection of 90 works — all drawn from the Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah, UAE — featuring sundry artists from most countries in the Arab Middle East and North Africa.
There is no other way of describing these works than to say they are stunning in their originality.