ROSALIND KING OF OCTOBER GALLERY, LONDON, DISCUSES WHAT TO EXPECT AT ART DUBAI 2010

Rachid Koraïchi: A Nation in Exile:
Hymne Gravé, 1981. Lithograph, Ed. of 25, 76 x 56cm.
Series of 42 Prints. Photo: Jonathan Greet.
Image Courtesy October Gallery, London

“We are participating at Art Dubai in order to develop a client base within the Middle East thus reaching new collectors. We see the fair as an excellent way of promoting our artists within the region. It is a way of contributing to the Middle East’s arts development and at the same time increasing our sales potential.

The artists we are representing this year are: El Anatsui, Romuald Hazoumé, Shigeyuki Kihara, Rachid Koraïchi, Elisabeth Lalouschek, Hassan Massoudy, Karel Nel, Nnenna Okore, Owusu-Ankomah, Laila Shawa, Julien Sinzogan, Tajammul, Wijdan, Huang Xu and Kenji Yoshida.

We choose works that will impact on the visual landscape in Dubai. Established artists from the region such as Rachid Koraïchi and Laila Shawa have a loyal following and have sold well at previous fairs. We have introduced new artists to Dubai, such as El Anatsui and Nnenna Okore, whose works immediately went to major regional collections.

We have noticed not so much a rise in talent as a marked increase in international awareness of the art being produced in Asia and the Middle East. To give one example, the Asia Pacific Triennial at GOMA in Brisbane (APT6), has now expanded its remit to include artists such as Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian from Iran. Of course, the October Gallery is delighted with the increased international recognition of artists outside the West, as the promotion of global art has been our primary focus for the past thirty-one years.

The past five years have seen a definite increased interest in global art.

With regards to the recession, there are two major factors at play here, for example, some emerging markets had not reached their peak before the recession; therefore, the prices did not drop and they continue to grow. For this reason, we have not seen a decrease in sales.

Secondly, we are expanding our market by exhibiting at art fairs such as Art Dubai. The quantity of sales may have been affected but the quality has not. If we lose a client in Europe for example, due to the recession, we gain another on the international market.

Dubai is now a major player on the international art fair scene due to the high international profile of Art Dubai. The proliferation of new museums in the region such as the Museum of Islamic Art, the Louvre and the Guggenheim and events such as the Sharjah Biennale can only strengthen Dubai’s position.

Most of the other established art fairs have a strong western focus, whereas Art Dubai, from its inception, has led the field in the active promotion of emerging and established artists from around the globe.”

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October Gallery: Art for a new decade
ART DUBAI 2010

El Anatsui, In the World But Don't Know the World, 2009, 5.6 x 10metres 

October Gallery has been instrumental in bringing to worldwide attention many of the world’s leading international artists, including El Anatsui, Rachid Koraïchi, Romuald Hazoumé, Nnenna Okore, Laila Shawa and Kenji Yoshida.

October Gallery promotes the art of the Transvangarde - or trans-cultural avant-garde. The programme at Art Dubai will consist of an exciting line up of leading artists from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East and Oceania.

The most dazzling work will be a major new metal sculpture by celebrated artist, El Anatsui, In the World But Don’t Know the World? The huge and intricate wall installation was first exhibited at the 3rd Moscow Biennale (2009) and recently had its London premiere at October Gallery. El Anatsui has drawn much attention worldwide with his highly ingenious metal sculptures made from tens of thousands of bottle-tops such as the magnificent piece wrapping the façade of the Palazzo Fortuny during the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007).

Presented at the stand will be renowned artist Rachid Koraïchi, who created a series of new, large calligraphic paintings specially for the event; Kenji Yoshida, the first living artist ever to be given a solo show at the Japanese Galleries of the British Museum with his gold and silver canvases of serene beauty; one of Africa’s leading artists, Romuald Hazoumé, winner in 2007 of the documenta 12 prize; Palestinian artist Laila Shawa, whose work is based on a heightened sense of realism and targets injustice and persecution wherever their roots may be; Wijdan, whose artistic practice is situated at the cutting edge of modern calligraphic style; Ghanaian painter, Owusu-Ankomah, who merges Adinkra symbols with figures inspired by Capoeira and Renaissance sculpture and who developed a line of clothing for the Red Campaign with Giorgio Armani; Chinese artist Huang Xu, whose large-scale photos transform discarded plastic bags into spiritual apparitions; South African artist Karel Nel, whose freestanding screens - made of white salt crystals and 5.5 million year old carboniferous dust - echo the galaxies, as well rising star Nnenna Okore, who was mentored by El Anatsui, and whose highly tactile works, made of clay, are shaped into dramatic forms, when displayed. Also exhibited will be Hassan Massoudy, Shigeyuki Kihara, Elisabeth Lalouschek, Julien Sinzogan and Tajammul.

Behind October Gallery are two driven individuals; Co-founder and Director Chili Hawes and Artistic Director, Elisabeth Lalouschek. Together they work as a team to exhibit and promote the very best contemporary art, as well as maintaining a cultural hub in central London for poets, writers, intellectuals and artists.

The rich diversity of art presented will be an inspiration to collectors and enthusiasts. Institutions such as the British Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany; Neue Galerie, Kassel, Germany; Setagagya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan have all collected works from October Gallery.

October Gallery’s 3rd year at Art Dubai will once again prove to be an insightful and exciting opportunity for those wishing to invest in new fields of contemporary art for the new decade to come.


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