As you may have heard, there’s a rather high-profile motor race happening in Abu Dhabi very soon. And, as the wise folk among you will have already accepted, attempting to escape the F1 in the next couple of weeks is an exercise as futile as trying to swim through jelly. There are F1 parties, free screenings of car-themed movies, and, as of this week, there’s even an F1 art show.
The Art of Racing is the cultural arm of this year’s Yasalam programme; the series of events put in place throughout November to perpetuate the city-wide buzz surrounding the second Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix. The show is being held at the Ghaf Gallery – an intimate villa-based exhibition space away from the petrol-fuelled machismo of Yas Island. And, as we discovered, it’s well worth a visit.
British artist David Hyde is worth setting aside a chunk of time for. His huge mosaic-style portraits (pictured) are made up of hundreds of Rubik’s Cubes, which he painstakingly arranges and attaches to clear Perspex to create striking pixelated portraits. ‘The F1 pieces have been specially commissioned for this show,’ he told us at last week’s opening. ‘The one of the car, which is made up of over 2,000 cubes, took three weeks of solid work. I’ve lost the skin on my fingers,’ he continued, proudly holding up a battered digit. But Hyde’s torture isn’t over yet – as part of the show, he’ll be creating an image of Red Bull driver Mark Webber across the F1 weekend, enlisting the help of gallery visitors to polish the piece off in time for the Aussie driver’s (potential) crowning as 2010 F1 world champion.
Heading on to the rooftop terrace, there’s more outside-the-box art in store, courtesy of experimental painter Ian Cook, who composes F1-themed scenes using old tyres and carelessly applied droplets of ink. When we visited, Cook was creating a new piece, crouching over a piece of paper and running a remote-control car repeatedly through splodges of paint in the manner of a demented toddler. It’s a shame he won’t be around to demonstrate his techniques during the show’s run, since the creation process is easily more impressive than the childlike splatters of his finished pieces.
Beyond the gimmickry of Hyde and Cook, there are some more thought-provoking pieces on display. Of the 13 exhibited artists, the most famous name is Michel Comte, a Swiss photographer who earned his fortune taking risqué snaps of celebrities for fashion magazines, but has also found time in his 30-year career to thrust some of F1’s biggest names in front of his lens. Candid snaps of Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher help to balance out the wackiness of some of the other pieces, and provide a much-needed hit of artistic credibility. Factor in eye-catching snaps from legendary front-line Grand Prix photographer Rainer Schlegelmilch and suddenly you’ve got something for both art and F1 aficionados alike.
The Art of Racing is an engaging show that we’d sum up as ‘accessible’, although those feeling less kind may opt for ‘shallow’. It’s true that there’s nothing hugely profound being communicated – those in search of cynical comments on the sport’s colossal carbon footprint or political in-fighting can take their business elsewhere – but as a purposefully one-dimensional celebration of the glamour of F1 and its heroes, we’re forced to admit that this exhibition achieves its unambitious goals in thoroughly emphatic fashion.
The Art Of Racing runs until November 14 at the Ghaf Gallery. 9am-1pm and 5pm-9pm, Saturday to Friday. Entry is free
