Specialising in disorganised piles of common objects, Hassan Sharif is one of the UAE’s most established and industrious artists. His work is currently on show at ‘Dropping Lines’, an exhibition of work by six Emirati artists at the city’s Salwa Zeidan Gallery. We gave him a call before the show to quiz him on the thinking behind his curiously chaotic sculptures.
What are the common themes in your work?
Consumerism is a focus. We are living in a society full of consumerism. Not just here; it is the same all over the world. The phenomenon is happening everywhere. My work looks at people’s understanding of consumerism, how companies try to sell their products, and how people see these companies.
How do your sculptures fit into this?
My sculptures are about products. I take a product to my studio and the first thing I do is remove its use. So it cannot be used for the purpose it was created for. I cancel its usefulness. Then I add another material to it, so it becomes a work of art; an object. These objects can no longer be used, so the only function it has is to be seen. This is how I address consumerism, advertising, billboards and so on. It is not actually criticising, it is just an observation. I go out and I take an impression from the world outside, then I come to the studio and I work on what I have seen, what I have experienced in daily life. I am very concerned with the simplicity of daily life. I take something simple and mould it into a work of art, which can be visual and tangible.
What’s the significance of the materials you use in these pieces?
I take the materials, maybe iron or cardboard – used cardboard; this is very important to me – then I take them in the studio and work with them. Each material has its own secrets, and you have to work with it to understand these secrets. This is the only job that I am doing, giving this material a function, to be provocative, simulative.
How do people tend to react to your work?
When I exhibited this kind of work in the UAE in the ’80s, it was not easy for people to accept. People would refuse it. The media talked about ‘what is this?’ and ‘what is he doing?’ So, back then, I had to make not only art, but make the audience as well! So I started teaching art and writing about contemporary art. I gave lectures and talks as well as exhibiting. Now, people are accepting my work and the functions it has.
Given the difficulty people had interpreting you work, were you ever tempted to leave the UAE?
I exhibited in Europe, but I didn’t want to live there. The function of my art is here, in this area. My experience as an artist goes back to the ’70s, when I was a cartoonist for a Dubai newspaper. My art is about realism. So I must stay in this town. I never think that because people don’t understand my work that I should do something somewhere else. No, my duty is to be here.
Do audiences abroad react to your work differently to audiences in the Middle East?
Art everywhere faces problems of communication. Not only in the Middle East or the UAE, everywhere I have this problem, and so does every artist. This problem has existed throughout history. The whole history of art is based on this refusal, this lack of understanding, so that in the end it can become understandable.
Given that you’ve been working as an artist for so long, have you achieved your biggest ambition yet?
It is not a matter of achieving; it’s a matter of doing what I want to do, to make more and more art. I cannot stop making art. All the time there is a mirage, and you have to run towards it. It is going, it is doing, it is active, and it is dynamic. Never ever do I stop or reach. I don’t want to reach. I want to go on and on, searching. This is important for me.
‘Dropping Lines’ runs until November 17 at the Salwa Zeidan Gallery. Entry is free
