Gallery Isabelle
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Artists
  • Exhibitions
  • Viewing rooms
  • News
  • Selected Press
  • Publications
  • Contact
Menu
184 Nails
Hassan Sharif | Curated by Vikram Divecha | 12 January - 26 February, 2022

184 Nails: Hassan Sharif | Curated by Vikram Divecha | 12 January - 26 February, 2022

Current viewing_room
  • 184 Nails is a non-static exhibItion featuring works that will be replaced at the end of every week. Twenty-one works...

    184 Nails is a non-static exhibItion featuring works that will be replaced at the end of every week. Twenty-one works selected from Hassan Sharif's Semi-Systems series will be rotated across the gallery walls at least twice during the seven-week exhibition run.

    • Hassan Sharif, Six Points Angular Lines - Part 4, 2013
      Hassan Sharif, Six Points Angular Lines - Part 4, 2013
    • Hassan Sharif, Black and White Squares No 1,2,3, 2010
      Hassan Sharif, Black and White Squares No 1,2,3, 2010
    • Hassan Sharif, Four Lines, 2013
      Hassan Sharif, Four Lines, 2013
    • Hassan Sharif, One 2 Four, 1984 (Lost and reconstituted in 2007)
      Hassan Sharif, One 2 Four, 1984 (Lost and reconstituted in 2007)
    • Hassan Sharif, X Shapes, 1984
      Hassan Sharif, X Shapes, 1984
    • Hassan Sharif, One to Five No. 1, 2007
      Hassan Sharif, One to Five No. 1, 2007
    • Hassan Sharif, Diagonal Line No. 15, 2008
      Hassan Sharif, Diagonal Line No. 15, 2008
    • Hassan Sharif, One-Two-Part 5 - Black Stains, 2009
      Hassan Sharif, One-Two-Part 5 - Black Stains, 2009
    • Hassan Sharif, Rhomboid Form No. 11, 2006
      Hassan Sharif, Rhomboid Form No. 11, 2006
    • Hassan Sharif, Lines in Motion, 2008
      Hassan Sharif, Lines in Motion, 2008
    • Hassan Sharif, Handwriting No 1A, 1983
      Hassan Sharif, Handwriting No 1A, 1983
    • Hassan Sharif, One to Twenty, Lines and Forms, 2007
      Hassan Sharif, One to Twenty, Lines and Forms, 2007
  • Sharif was constantly on the run. Evading arrest from stasis. Rummaging in search for autonomy. An autonomy of thought. Not to forget an autonomy from function for his selected materials, as well. This stasis-versus-movement dynamic materializes in 184 Nails as the exhibition performs as a contradictory system.

    • Hassan Sharif, Horizontal Lines, Undated
      Hassan Sharif, Horizontal Lines, Undated
    • Hassan Sharif, One-Two-three, Part 2 - Angular Lines, 2009
      Hassan Sharif, One-Two-three, Part 2 - Angular Lines, 2009
    • Hassan Sharif, One to Four, 2016
      Hassan Sharif, One to Four, 2016
    • Hassan Sharif, One-Two Part 1, 2009
      Hassan Sharif, One-Two Part 1, 2009
    • Hassan Sharif, Wave-Like and Straight, Horizontal No. 3, 2007
      Hassan Sharif, Wave-Like and Straight, Horizontal No. 3, 2007
    • Hassan Sharif, One to Five - 1A, 2012
      Hassan Sharif, One to Five - 1A, 2012
    • Hassan Sharif, Ten, 2008
      Hassan Sharif, Ten, 2008
    • Hassan Sharif, One 2 Four, 1984 (Lost and reconstituted in 2007)
      Hassan Sharif, One 2 Four, 1984 (Lost and reconstituted in 2007)
    • Hassan Sharif, Lines No. 1, 2014
      Hassan Sharif, Lines No. 1, 2014
    • Hassan Sharif, One-Two-Part 5 - Black Stains, 2009
      Hassan Sharif, One-Two-Part 5 - Black Stains, 2009
    • Hassan Sharif, One to Four - Part 1, 2009
      Hassan Sharif, One to Four - Part 1, 2009
  • A momentum and rythm arise through the nature and behavior of the systems SHARIF invents: they begin to guide HIS hand and mind to arrange, order, group sort and organize. Graphic shapes enter a synchronized choreography—lines begin to turn at sharp angels, rhomboids begin to swivel, cubes begin to stack up, numbers begin to shower.

    • Cont
    • Badawi
    • Badawi Cont
    • Agha
    • Screen Shot 2022 03 06 At 12 05 26 Pm
    • Screen Shot 2022 03 06 At 12 05 12 Pm
    • Cerro
    • Cerro 1
    • Screen Shot 2022 03 08 At 6 14 20 Pm
    • Roldan
    • 146A0319 1
    • 146A0320 1
  • Hassan Sharif, One to Five - 1A, 2012 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, One-Two Part 1, 2009 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, Horizontal Lines, Undated (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, One to Four, 2016 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, One to Four - Part 1, 2009 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, Lines No. 1, 2014 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, Wave-Like and Straight, Horizontal No. 3, 2007 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, One-Two-three, Part 2 - Angular Lines, 2009 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, One-Two-Part 5 - Black Stains, 2009 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, Ten, 2008 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, One 2 Four, 1984 (Lost and reconstituted in 2007) (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, Lines in Motion, 2008 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, Black and White Squares No 1,2,3, 2010 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, One to Five No. 1, 2007 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, X Shapes, 1984 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, Handwriting No 1A, 1983 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, Rhomboid Form No. 12, 2006 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, Four Lines, 2013 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, Diagonal Line No. 15, 2008 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, Six Points Angular Lines - Part 4, 2013 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, One to Twenty, Lines and Forms, 2007 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Hassan Sharif, One to Five - 1A, 2012
  •  

    About the Artist

    Hassan Sharif (1951-2016) made a vital contribution to conceptual art and experimental practice in the Middle East through forty years of performance, installation, drawing, painting and assemblage. Prior to leaving the UAE to study in London in 1979, Sharif gained attention for his cartoons published in the U¬AE press—ironic, outspoken critiques of the rapid industrialisation of the Emirates and political deadlock of 1970s Arab Nationalism. As an artist, he rejected calligraphic abstraction, which was becoming the dominant discourse in the Middle East at that time, and pursued instead a pointedly contemporary vocabulary, drawing on the non-elitism and intermedia of Fluxus and the potential in British Constructionism’s systemic processes of making.

     

    In addition to his own practice, he also encouraged and supported several generations of artists in the Emirates. Sharif was a founding member of the Emirates Fine Arts Society (founded in 1980) and the Art Atelier in the Youth Theatre and Arts in Dubai. In 2007, he was one of the four artists to establish The Flying House, a Dubai institution for promoting contemporary Emirati artists. His works are held in the collections of the Sharjah Art Foundation; MAMCO, Geneva; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Tate, London; Guggenheim New York and Abu Dhabi; Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; M+ Museum, Hong Kong and Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Yinchuan, among others. In 2017, a major retrospective of his works, entitled Hassan Sharif: I Am the Single Work Artist, curated by Hoor Al Qasimi was held at Sharjah Art Foundation. This retrospective has travelled to the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin and; Malmö Konsthall, Malmö in 2020, and the musée d’art moderne et contemporain (MAMC), Saint-Étienne in 2021. 

  • About the Curator

    Beirut-born, Mumbai-bred, Vikram Divecha is an artist based in Dubai. He holds an MFA in Visual Art from Columbia University and was a participant of the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study program. Divecha’s practice shifts between public art, site-specific interventions, installation, film, painting, drawing, photography and text. His practice raises questions about time, value and authorship by engaging people across urban and social spheres, and working with available material and space. His new 34:00 mins film Dohrana (2021) commissioned by Warehouse 421 continues his collaboration with Sharjah Municipality gardeners, displacing the romance of Urdu poetry, choreographic postures, movements and music with the ever-green aesthetics of public roundabouts and traffic islands. Divecha teaches as an Adjunct Professor at AUS (American University of Sharjah) in the College of Architecture, Art and Design. 184 Nails is his first curatorial project.

  • ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

    DR. AYMAN BADAW

    DR. AYMAN BADAWI HOLDS A PH.D. IN MATHEMATICS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS, TEXAS, USA. HIS RESEARCH INTERESTS ARE IN THE AREA OF COMMUTATIVE RING THEORY AND GRAPHS ASSOCIATED TO RINGS. DR. BADAWI IS THE EDITOR IN CHIEF OF THE PALESTINE JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS (PJM). HE HAS NUMEROUS PUBLICATIONS, INCLUDING BOOK CHAPTERS, JOURNAL ARTICLES, AND CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS.


    DR ALBERT NASSER AGHA 

    VOCALIST AND OUDIST DR ALBERT NASSER AGHA IS AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MUSIC AT THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF SHARJAH IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. HE EARNED HIS PH.D FROM THE UCLA HERB ALPERT SCHOOL OF MUSIC, STUDYING UNDER THE DIRECTION OF RENOWNED PROFESSOR AND COMPOSER A.J RACY. AS AN ACCOMPLISHED PERFORMER OF THE CLASSICAL ARAB REPERTOIRE, AGHA HAS PERFORMED AT MANY NOTABLE VENUES SUCH AS THE JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, BERKLEE MUSIC CENTER IN BOSTON, CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER, AND THE MONTREAL FESTIVAL FOR THE ARAB WORLD. HIS MAIN AREAS OF INTEREST INCLUDE MUSIC AND ISLAM IN CONTEMPORARY SOUTHEAST ASIAN SOCIETIES, WHERE HE HAS CONDUCTED EXTENSIVE FIELDWORK AMONG INDONESIAN MUSLIMS IN JAVA.


    CAMILO CERRO

    CAMILO CERRO IS AN AWARD-WINNING ECO-SOCIAL DESIGNER, SUSTAINABLE LIVING RESEARCHER, AUTHOR, CULTURAL NOMAD, DESIGN TINKERER AND ALSO ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIOR DESIGN AT THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF SHARJAH IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. IN THE PRESENT CONTEXT OF THE RISING AWARENESS OF ECOLOGICAL ISSUES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, HIS CURRENT RESEARCH INTEREST FOCUSES ON THE STUDY OF HOW FORMAL AND INFORMAL NETWORKS CAN BE TRANSFORMED THROUGH AN UNDERTONE OF SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES, INTO INTERDEPENDENT SYSTEMS DESIGNED TO BETTER THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES. WITH THE AIM OF MOVING TOWARDS A CONVERGENCE BETWEEN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND NATURE, HIS RESEARCH PROPOSES A HYBRID THAT USES ETHICAL DESIGN IDEAS AS A PROCESS TO CONTEXTUALIZE DESIGN IN CULTURE, DEVELOPING SOCIOPOLITICAL AND SITE-SPECIFIC ANSWERS TO REAL PROBLEMS. THIS APPROACH IS NOT LOOKING FOR FORMAL STUDIES, BUT A COHESIVE SYSTEM THAT WORKS AT EVERY SCALE AND KEEPS EVOLVING DYNAMICALLY THROUGH THE SOCIAL INTERACTIONS THEY GENERATE. HE HAS LECTURED ON HIS RESEARCH INTERNATIONALLY AND PUBLISHED WIDELY.

    JUAN ROLDAN

    JUAN ROLDAN IS A SPANISH ARCHITECT AND EDUCATOR. WITH ARCHITECTURE STUDIES IN MADRID  (ETSAM MARCH 2004) AND LONDON (BARTLETT SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE UCL, LONDON 1999). ROLDAN IS AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF INTERIOR DESIGN AT THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF SHARJAH. ROLDAN WAS APPOINTED CURATOR OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THE D3 ARCHITECTURAL FESTIVAL 2020 (D3 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH RIBA GULF). IN 2019, HE WAS AWARDED THE INTERNATIONAL CHARLES CORREA CHAIR BY THE CHARLES CORREA FOUNDATION AT GOA COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE (INDIA).HIS LATEST WRITTEN RESEARCH, "OUTDOOR ROOMS AND DOMESTICATED LANDSCAPES IN THE UAE," WAS PUBLISHED IN INTERIOR PROVOCATIONS (ROUTLEDGE, 2020).

  • CATALOGUE Essay by Vikram Divecha

    Click here to flip through our online catalogue

    CATALOGUE

    Essay by Vikram Divecha

  • 184 Nails | Press Release

Manage cookies
Copyright © 2025 Gallery Isabelle
Online Viewing Rooms by Artlogic
Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Facebook, opens in a new tab.
Twitter, opens in a new tab.
Youtube, opens in a new tab.
Vimeo, opens in a new tab.
LinkedIn, opens in a new tab.
Send an email

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

Join our mailing list

Signup

* denotes required fields

We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.