Special Features
Falasism introduces two rising stars in the art world from the UAE
Mattar Bin Lahej is an active painter, sculptor and photographer who has been recognized in the past few years through his participations in exhibitions both locally and outside the UAE, such as Abu Dhabi Art and the Berlin Art fair, Germany.Mattar is an accomplished self-taught & self-represented artist, who has garnered the attention of contemporary art collectors in the UAE. His showcase consists of five large oil paintings and two enormous steel sculptures that focus on a horse’s power and movement.
In this work Mattar attempts to express his deep feelings and enthusiasm about horses, their movements and features. To achieve this he has used his own technique that includes his unique way of brush strokes to emphasize these elements. However, his choice of a red velvet color scheme gives the paintings a mysterious and abstract appearance.
On the other hand, Hamed is a professional photographer and an amazing writer who always attaches his images with interesting phrases, whereby both his images and words play a significant role to enhance his ideas. In this exhibition three series of works are being shown: “Desktop”, “Watercolors”, and “Comfort Zone”.
Hamed’s interest in photography is toward conceptual sophisticated themes. His aim is to produce an image that speaks as much as it is pleasant to look at; discovering areas where the mind rarely conquers leaves room for the viewer to interpret the work.
He has faith in colors and it is reflective in his digital portfolio. His passion in English literature has encouraged him to tag each image with a catchy title and a relevant piece of writing in the form of a quote, limerick, or a personal poem. For example, a personal quote that verifies his style is: "Don’t just get yourself out, standout".
Concept of Falasism
Falasism is an artistic philosophical idea that united a group of Emirati artists from one family in a variety of artforms to showcase their works in one show to launch their emergence, with an aim for further collaborations in the future.
Falasism, expressed their humble feelings and great link to their grand-generation in which they were famous in poetry and literature. As the development had accrued to the UAE people in different aspects of life, art became a new phenomenon and many local artists had emerged. They have been able to access art through education and information technology.
Falasism artists are still connected with their tradition, and as a result the sense of the past is still conceptually part of their work. For instance, Mattar has a great collection of abstract narrative paintings that tell how tradition nearly vanished and valuable values changed. Also, his passion of art allowed him to establish his own gallery in order to support a new group of talented Emirati artists and give them the chance to express their art in many exhibitions and events.
However, Dr. Hamed is an artist who absorbed modernity with a deep faith of the past, yet his photos always have different and unique subjects and is inspired by past memories. Although his profession has been primarily in medicine, he believes in art as another way of healing people.
Finally, Falasism opens doors to all artists whom they want to share their obsession about the UAE and wish to express their feelings through their works.
Event Details:
Artists: Mattar Bin Lahej & Dr. Hamed Al-Falasi
Curator: Maitha Bin Lahej
Location: Zayed University DXB, courtyard
Opening event: 29 December 2009 at 6 30pm
Exhibition runs until January 7, 2009
