“In Real Time”: A Living Exhibition at NYUAD Art Gallery
By Maya Allison
Detailed installation view of RANA BEGUM’s No. 1348 Wall Drawing (detail), 2024, ink on wall, dimensions variable. Photo by John Varghese. Courtesy the artist, the NYUAD Art Gallery, and The Third Line, Dubai.
February 22–June 9, 2024
In Real Time
The NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery
Nujoom Alghanem | Moza Almatrooshi | Rana Begum | Chafa Ghaddar | Julie Becton Gillum | Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, and Hesam Rahmanian | Gözde İlkin | Kiori Kawai | Sol LeWitt | Cristiana de Marchi | Haleh Redjaian
This text marks a moment in time in an ongoing exchange among three collaborators: the artist/s; the visitor/s; and the keepers of the Art Gallery at NYU Abu Dhabi.
“In Real Time” is an unfolding exhibition to visit and revisit. It is about being physically present with the traces left by artists (and others) or hints of those who will be here. This emerges in response to a sense of urgency: perhaps art can offer something different from the news, from the scroll, and yet not distract or make us forget.
Detailed installation view of RAMIN HAERIZADEH, ROKNI HAERIZADEH, HESAM RAHMANIAN, JULIE BECTON GILLUM, KIORI KAWAI, PIROUZ TAJI, MOHAMMED RAHIS MOLLAH, BHAKTA GAHA’s Take a poiesis capsule with a glass of shadow on an empty stomach, 2024, floor painted with Dastgah performance, video derived from that performance, assemblage of serving vessels, welded iron structures, clay plates, dimensions variable. Photo by John Varghese. Courtesy the NYUAD Art Gallery.
A wonderful mix of artists has joined the experiment, and the list continues to grow. Our curator, Duygu Demir, has also intervened.
Some artworks will appear first as a letter of intent. Some will be changed by performers. Some might only last one day. Some are already made, with a specific message: consider the space around you. Two of the works are being made entirely by the hands of the community. We invite you to be one of the participants.
What do we need from a space for art in this particular moment, in this particular part of the world, in a university, in an academic gallery? We hope this exhibition allows for any number of responses.
—Maya Allison
NUJOOM ALGHANEM, Geography in Transformation, 2022- , nails, cotton string, burlap, sound, audience participation, dimensions variable. Vocals by Randa Haidar. Sound design by Malik Al Hammadi. Courtesy the NYUAD Art Gallery.
*presented by the NYUAD Art Gallery
