Hassan Sharif: I Am The Single Work Artist

Exhibition - 4 November 2017—3 February 2018

Al Mureijah Square and Bait Al SerkalThis landmark retrospective will include Hassan Sharif’s diverse body of work from the early 1970s to 2016.In the making for several years, this landmark retrospective will include Hassan Sharif’s diverse body of work from the early 1970s to 2016. On view in Al Mureijah Square and Bait Al Serkal, Arts Square, the exhibition will encompass Sharif’s early newspaper caricature and comic strip drawings, ‘semi-system’ works, performances, paintings and ‘urban archeology’ objects.

This retrospective is the culmination of Sharif’s long and storied history with the Emirate of Sharjah, where he first began staging interventions and exhibitions of contemporary art. He pursued this interest in earnest when he returned to the UAE from London after graduating from The Byam Shaw School of Art in 1984. Moving between roles as an artist, educator, critic and writer, Sharif not only sought to encourage Emirati audiences to engage with contemporary art in exhibitions but also on the page, through his Arabic translations of historical art texts and manifestos.His work also included the founding or co-founding of the Emirates Fine Arts Society, Sharjah (1980); Al Mareija Art Atelier, Sharjah (1984); Art Atelier in the Youth Theatre and Arts, Dubai (1987) and The Flying House, Dubai (2007)—all organisations that have supported interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary art in the Emirates through mentorship and exhibition.This exhibition is curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Director, Sharjah Art Foundation.http://sharjahart.org/sharjah-art-foundation/exhibitions/hassan-sharif-a-retrospective

Copper No 33, 2015, copper tube and copper wire, 310 x 145 x 90 cm

Objects in the Ground, 2007, ink and pencil on paper, 42 x 59.5 cm

Metope, 2007, ink and pencil on paper, 42 x 29.7 cm,

Funnelled Paper, 1985, paper, glue and carton box, 50 x 70 x 35 cm

Images above are a brief overview from the part of the exhibition of the Hassan Sharif retrospective by Sharjah Art Foundation, in Bait Al Serkal. This section of the show is separate from the main exhibition and I viewed it before I experienced the rest of retrospective. What was interesting was how perfectly the pieces fit the space, they seemed to to planned for the areas, some of the accompanying sketches appeared to illustrate the actual areas the pieces were installed. The rooms in Bait Al Serkal are not 'white cube' gallery spaces, it is a traditional building that has been converted in to exhibition spaces, lighting is dim and relies of spotlights, the interior courtyard is glazed off letting in natural light which does cast shadows and reflections over the work, it would be a consideration to conservators due to sun exposure as can be seen in some of the images above.The exhibition felt like walking through a collectors home, pieces tucked in to recesses and hung in clusters. The works are typical of Hassan Sharif, obsessive to the point of exhaustion and then abandoned on completion, moving on to the next fascination. Calling the exhibition "I am the Single Work Artist' as a title Sharif claimed for himself, a falsehood, displayed in the walls of the building by the repetitive nature he collected and clusters objects and creations. It almost feels like Sharif was fascinated by life, by the mundane and how he could claim those fascinations, the fleeting moments for himself. I am intrigued to consider the addition of compulsion to my work, I thought it was there but on reflecting these works I can see that I have not exhausted the possibilities.