421, Abu Dhabi’s independent platform dedicated to supporting emerging creative practices, presents its Spring 2023 Program: Savour the Sun and the Moon.

Running until June 21, the spring season presents two major exhibitions and a wide-ranging program of workshops and special events that aim to bring people together to slow down and collectively contemplate. It features supper clubs, cultural tours, and excursions that offer intuitive and perceptible ways to contribute to shared new beginnings.

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The Winter 2023 exhibitions ‘And The Mirrors Are Many’ and ‘Mahshid Rafiei: Of Mythic Proportions’ will also continue into the spring season and will be on view until May 8.

Opening on May 18, the Spring 2023 exhibitions include Nasir Nasrallah’s new solo exhibition ‘Poetics of the Machine,’ which showcases over 30 new works that were commissioned by 421 as part of the Artistic Development Program, and New York University Abu Dhabi’s SYNTHESIS: 2023 MFA Graduate Show which presents the work of this year’s graduating cohort in the department for Art and Media.

“We are excited to present the work of Nasir Nasrallah in our space this season. His new solo exhibition is a result of his participation in the Artistic Development Program, which focuses on supporting UAE-based artists in developing a large body of work that is then presented in a solo exhibition at 421. The program encourages artists to think deeply about the reception of their work in the public sphere and the connection, communication, and multidimensional interaction with the surrounding community.” said Faisal Al Hassan, Head of 421.
“We are also excited to host New York University Abu Dhabi’s SYNTHESIS: 2023 MFA Graduate Show. This exhibition marks the second year of our collaboration with New York University Abu Dhabi’s (NYUAD) Master of Fine Arts in Art and Media program. Our partnership feels like the perfect match: two programs with a mission to support the production of emergent contemporary practices from the region coming together so seamlessly.”

Nasir Nasrallah: Poetics of the Machine

Nasir Nasrallah’s new solo exhibition at 421, titled ‘Poetics of the Machine,’ will open from May 18 to August 27 at Gallery 1, presenting a mythical exploration of the relationship between humans and machines. Through a collection of intricate drawings, paintings, publications, textiles, and installations, the UAE-based artist takes us on a journey into a world of mechanical creatures that exist in an unknown space and time, and is inspired by early Islamic inventions and experiments.

Artwork by Nasir Nasrallah. (Image courtesy of 421. Photography by Ismail Noor)

The drawings and paintings are detailed, depicting a variety of unique robotic figures. They are often presented in groups, suggesting a kind of community or society of machines.

The exhibition acts as a stage or a set where an unscripted narrative plays out, examining how this community of machines converses, communicates, and interacts, exploring the potential for life in the so-called non-living and vice versa. The work invites us to consider the impact of machines on our daily lives and our ever-evolving relationship with these mechanical beings.

Nasrallah's depictions of machines are not merely mechanical; rather, he imbues them with personalities, emotions, and even a sense of humor. In one of his installations, for instance, visitors walking through the exhibition will encounter a fax machine that receives messages in real-time and a sofa setup that replicates the one found in Nasrallah's personal studio. These elements create a sense of familiarity and intimacy, inviting visitors into the artist's personal world.

Nasrallah is a recipient of the 2023 cycle of the 421 Artistic Development Program. ‘Poetics of the Machine’ is a result of the program which is organized in partnership with pedagogical partner Institute for Emerging Art.

SYNTHESIS: 2023 MFA Graduate Show

The 2023 MFA Graduate Show presents the work of graduate students completing the two-year Master of Fine Arts in Art and Media at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD).

Marking the second year of collaboration between 421 and NYUAD, the exhibition on view from May 18 to August 27, showcases the research and experimentation of the inaugural MFA cohort who visualize questions and ideas in expansive ways and provides valuable insights into our contemporary global condition. SYNTHESIS features projects by Elizabeth Dorazio, Liane Al Ghusain, Majd Alloush, Mahra AlFalahi, and Fabiola Chiminazzo.

This collaboration between 421 and NYUAD aims to support the production of emergent contemporary practices from the region by facilitating explorations by the MFA cohort of public spaces as sites of community engagement and critical dialogue that allow them to work towards an expansive studio practice beyond purely academic or institutional environments.

Current exhibitions

‘And The Mirrors Are Many’ curated by Mona Al-Jadir is on view till May 8, 2023, and investigates institutional repositories of memory – the museum, the memorial, and the archive.

Installation view of the exhibition 'And The Mirrors Are Many.'. (Image courtesy of 421)

Contributing artists in this exhibition are Maitha Abdalla, Rand Abdul Jabbar, Reem Al Menhali, Emii Alrai, Moza Almatrooshi, Nasser Alzayani, Hadeyeh Badri, Rohini Devasher, Vikram Divecha, Mirella Salamé, Sara Smarrazzo, Dima Srouji, and Fatima Uzdenova.

On 29 April 29, 2023 (Saturday) evening (4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.), there will be a guided tour by the curator Al-Jadir of the exhibition, This 45-minute tour will include an in-depth discussion around the themes of the exhibition and an overview of the artworks on display. The tour also includes a performance by artist Reem Almenahli.

Mahshid Rafiei: Of Mythic Proportions

The first solo exhibition presenting the work of Mahshid Rafiei, ‘Of Mythic Proportions,’ on view until May 8, 2023,
is a large-scale installation of five newly commissioned works. This installation, which takes up the entire space in Gallery 1, suggests that illusion is not the antithesis of truth but a co-conspirator, guiding us in a world of loss.

‘Of Mythic Proportions’ includes sculptures and sound pieces where elements are intentionally hidden to offer a deceptive reading, and asks us to consider how art provides a stand-in for what might be missing.

Through this play on illusion and perception, Rafiei explores the myth of origin and the aesthetic processes of its conservation. One of Mahshid Rafiei’s inspirations for this exhibition was a 19th-century poem by a Bedouin woman. To assuage the grief of a she-camel in her flock who had lost a calf, she inflated the skin of the camel’s dead baby, so that the animal might believe it was still alive.

This exhibition is a result of the 421 Artistic Development Exhibition Program, which is organized in collaboration with pedagogical partner The Institute of Emerging Art.

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