Hassan Sharif retrospective, previously on view in Sharjah, Travels to Europe

Overview

The Sharjah Art Foundation exhibition I Am The Single Work Artist will tour Europe throughout 2020 and into early 2021. In collaboration with Sharjah Art Foundation, KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin presents the exhibition from 29 February through 3 May 2020, and is the first major retrospective of artist Hassan Sharif in Europe. After its presentation in Berlin, the exhibition will travel to Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden from 18 September 2020 to 14 January 2021.

Curated by Sharjah Art Foundation Director Hoor Al Qasimi, the exhibition was first presented in 2017-18 and was the largest exhibition ever staged at the foundation. I Am The Single Work Artist is a culmination of Sharif’s long and storied history with the Emirate of Sharjah featuring 150 works from the artist’s diverse oeuvre, including early drawings, paintings, sculptural installations, and assemblage, and traces Sharif’s work from the early 1970s to 2016.

A pioneer of conceptual art and experimental practice in the Middle East, Hassan Sharif explored form, time, social action and mathematical systems throughout his career. 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.

Since 1993, Sharif’s work has also been exhibited in eight Sharjah Biennials, most recently in Sharjah Biennial 12 (2015). His work has also been shown in 1980–Today: Exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates, UAE Pavilion, 56th Venice Biennale (2015); and ADACH Platform for Visual Arts, 53rd Venice Biennale (2009). Over 90 of Sharif’s most significant works have been acquired by the Foundation and are part of the Sharjah Art Foundation collection. The Foundation is also custodian of Sharif’s studio and personal archives.
This exhibition is produced by Sharjah Art Foundation (UAE), KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Germany) and Malmö Konsthall (Sweden). The presentation at KW Institute for Contemporary Art is curated by Hoor Al Qasimi and Krist Gruijthuijsen, and the one at Malmö Konsthall by Hoor Al Qasimi and Mats Stjernstedt.

For more information, visit www.kw-berlin.de and www.konsthall.malmo.se