The Artists of 2023: Farah Al Qasimi
By Anna Lentchner
Kohl-lined eyes framed by a leopard-print hijab; a tomato carved into the shape of a rose; an Islamic prayer rug draped over a stack of plastic chairs. These are some of the subjects featured in the richly textured, unabashedly colorful photographs and videos of Abu Dhabi and Brooklyn-based artist Farah Al Qasimi. Warping the everyday into the extraordinary, she depicts the kitsch and often self-contradictory ethos of postmodern life.