SHARJAH/BERLIN, (Pakistan Point News - 05th Mar, 2020) The Sharjah Art Foundation's exhibition, 'Hassan Sharif: I Am The Single Work Artist', is now on view in Europe and will tour throughout 2020 and into early 2021.
Curated by Sharjah Art Foundation Director, Hoor Al Qasimi, the exhibition was the largest ever staged at the foundation and was first presented in 2017-18, and traced the late artist’s career from the early 1970s to 2016.
In collaboration with Sharjah Art Foundation, KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin is presenting the exhibition from 29th February to 3rd May, which is the first major retrospective of the artist, Hassan Sharif, in Europe.
After its presentation in Berlin, 'I Am The Single Work Artist' will travel to Malmö Konsthall, an exhibition hall in Malmö, Sweden, from 18th September 2020 to 14th January 2021.
A culmination of Sharif’s long and storied history with Sharjah, the exhibition presents 150 works from the artist’s diverse oeuvre, including early newspaper caricatures and comic strip drawings, paintings, sculptural installations, and assemblage.
"We are delighted to collaborate with KW Institute for Contemporary Art and Malmö Konsthall to bring this major Hassan Sharif retrospective to Europe," said Hoor Al Qasimi, Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, adding, "Hassan Sharif’s art practice was instrumental to the transformation of art production regionally. It is great to see his work presented for new audiences around the world."
Moving between roles as artist, educator, critic and writer, Sharif worked to encourage the engagement of local audiences with contemporary art through his Arabic translations of historical art texts and manifestos.
He was a founder of The Flying House, Dubai (2007); Art Atelier, Youth Theatre and Arts, Dubai (1987); Al Mureijah Art Atelier, Sharjah (1984) and Emirates Fine Arts Society, Sharjah (1980). All these organisations support interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary art in the Emirates through mentorship and exhibition.
Sharif graduated from the Byam Shaw school of Art, London (1984), and returned to the UAE, where he began staging interventions and exhibitions of contemporary art in Sharjah. He was born in 1951 in Dubai where he lived and worked until his death in 2016.
This exhibition is organised by Sharjah Art Foundation, Germany's KW Institute for Contemporary Art, and Sweden's Malmö Konsthall. The presentation at KW Institute for Contemporary Art is curated by Hoor Al Qasimi and Krist Gruijthuijsen, and at Malmö Konsthall by Hoor Al Qasimi and Mats Stjernstedt.
