Galerie Jerome De Noirmont
The Galerie JdN has us pretty excited, if only because of the presence of Jeff Koons and David Mach. Koons’ bright, eccentric images riffing on pop and tat culture (the man loves an inflatable, pic) are brilliant, as are Mach’s spiny, giant sculptures.
B21 Gallery
Exposing emerging and established Middle Eastern artists, look out for Iranian artists Rokneddin Haerizadeh and Khosrow Hassanzadeh whose style blends black-and-white photos with bold primary colours to great effect indeed.
Project B Contemporary Art
Milan’s haven to modern and exciting art. Worth checking out for the works of British artist Mark Quin, whose giant floral canvases offer images of truly vibrant colour. Completely the opposite is Zhang Huan (pic), a Chinese artist whose prints capture a stark grey world.
The Third Line
You have to see The Third Line’s stand. Among the artists this Dubai gallery is bringing to the stage, keep an eye out for Hayv Kahraman. Part Hieronymous Bosch, part swan, these striking figures keep blowing us away.
Hauser & Wirth
Check out H&W to catch a glimpse of the work of legendary ageing French sculptress Louise Bourgeois, whose towering spider structures, entitled Maman, have appeared in galleries all over the world, including the Guggenheim.
Paradise Row
With galleries in London and Istanbul, look out especially for Moroccan artist Mounir Fatmi whose works span video installations, drawings and paintings. One for the future.
Bait Muzna Gallery
Once a former royal home, this Omani gallery is Muscat’s main artistic haven. Check out the work of Abdallah Akar, the Tunisian painter and calligrapher whose work revolves around Arabic heritage and poetry.
Xerxes Fine Art
With a stable of Arabic artists in tow, London’s Xerxes includes artwork by calligrapher Ali Adjalli and an impressive joint project by filmmakers Mahmoud Kalari and Ali Rahber, which manages to blend calligraphy and film.
Ayyam Gallery
Syrian textile artist Moustafa Fahti (pic) will be exhibiting for Ayyam, which has links to Dubai’s Green Art gallery. His intricate patterns are joined by the work of Lebanese artist Nadim
Karam whose overlapping, abstract sculptures look visually stunning and are well worth a look.
Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery
At the LMTH (for short), we’re looking forward to works by Shiva Ahmidi, an artist whose series of elaborately decorated oil barrels (yes, oil barrels!) took our eye. Also worth catching are Roya Akhavan’s intricate linen prints, which really take the eye in a ‘spirograph’ kind of way.
Waterhouse and Dodd
Their stand is split into Western and Arabic artists with works by Franz Kline and Alexander Caulder accompanying pieces from Iranian sculptor Parviz Tanavoli. But the big attraction is a 40-inch maquette BMW painted by Andy Warhol. It was part of a series and this is the only one not in a BMW museum.
Townhouse Gallery
Not selling anything to anyone, the Townhouse are a non-profit gallery from Cairo who, instead of hocking artworks to the public, will be showing a series of interviews they’ve produced with artists such as Lara Baladi, Wael Shawky and Huda Lutfi who they’ve worked with over the years.
Hanart TZ Gallery
The only gallery from the Far East, Hanart are bringing a wealth of Chinese artists, but the one which has us most excited is digital media artist Feng Mengbo. The video game-obsessed artist blends once invited visitors to kill a virtual version of himself in an installation called Q4U. We love his stuff.
White Cube
The London gallery brings a distinguished roster of artists to the fair, with Brit sculptor Antony ‘Angel of North’ Gormley and Marc Quinn among those on offer. Also look out for works by arist/filmmaker Sarah Morris whose geometric abstractions are simply astonishing.
Gagosian Gallery
Probably one of the most exciting names to arrive at Art Abu Dhabi, their roster of past exhibiting artists ranges from Damian Hirst to Picasso. We’re looking forward to seeing works by early ’80s pop artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and more from the ever-popular Jeff Koons.
Enrico Navarra Gallery
Pulling out the big names, original pieces by pop art originators Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat are on sale at the Enrico Navarra Gallery. Look out particularly for Basquiet’s simple, eclectic doodles. There are also works by the late artist and social activist Keith Haring, who spent his time capturing New York street life until his untimely death aged just 31.
Gallery Skye
One of three Indian galleries exhibiting at Art Abu Dhabi, Bangalore’s Gallery Skye is exhibiting is a rare treat indeed. Exhibiting works by Bharti Kerr, Sudarshan Shetty and Sheela Gowda, these are all sculptors and photographers who are part of India’s exciting new wave of conceptual artists.
Gallerie Gmurzynska
This 40-year-old Swiss gallery specialising in classic modern and classic contemporary art (from the 1900s onwards, basically). They do a neat line Russian avant-garde, but the artists on show are mainly western Europe and American, with works by Yves Klein, Edgar Degas, Fernando Botero and Robert Indiana all on show at the fair.
Even if you don’t get art you’ll like these…
Maarten Baas Can you turn an analog digital clock into something manual? Maarten Baas can. The Dutch artist stands behind a dark screen and paints the numbers manually. It’s literally clockwatching, but trust us – it’s more dynamic than it sounds.
Emirates Palace, Nov 19-22 5pm-10pm.
Sneak Peak: YouTube ‘Real time analog digital clock’
Design moment Getting to see artists in action is the new vogue, it seems. Design moment is a series of open studios for emerging designers from the UAE, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and so on to work live in front of the public. They will literally build a room in front of your very eyes. Wowza!
Emirates Palace, Nov 19-22 4pm-10pm.
