A LITTLE BIT OF NEW YORK

'The works of the different artists in this show are very connected to each other; there's a lot of line making, marks and gestures.

By Robert Flemming (Staff Reporter)

Published: Thu 29 Dec 2005, 1:15 PM

Last updated: Mon 26 Aug 2024, 12:55 PM

There's minimal colour and lots of colours and I wanted to balance everything out.

So that's really the theme and why the exhibition is called 'Connectivity'. We're all in a way connected through technology, through nature and the movement we go through every day in our lives,' says Avani Patel, artist and curator of the Jamjar's latest exhibition.

An eclectic mix of paintings drawn from the works of six artists based in New York, the first thing that strikes you on entering is Avani's own 'installation'. Suspended from the ceiling, her mobile art reaches down in tendrils to touch the floor. Multi coloured shapes of painted mylar that catch the light and the fancy.

'The influences come from my culture: growing up in India, the performances from Bollywood, the colourful festivals, going to the temple, gods and goddesses. I've turned these into abstract forms but there's a lot of movement in my paintings. You see insects and little characters because I'm fascinated by sights, the surrounding culture and nature and I create these things in abstract forms. I'm very buzz-like, whimsical in my paintings and joyful. I want people to come and see, it's calm and peaceful, and get joy from, my paintings. The other paintings are also very calming.'

She waves appreciatively at the paintings around the walls, reminiscent of a gallery in Greenwich Village.

'For example, Juri's work and mine go together very rhythmically. She uses limited colours but she has her own characteristics in her paintings; it's very pointy but there lots of different directions that go around in the painting. I like the marks and the strokes; they're similar to mine but in a different style.'

Juri Morioka's paintings draw you in like a series of long lost maps that have faded over time. The added curiosity factor is that they're made of rice paper. Wendy Edward's muted colours stretch like cauls over the canvases next to Neil Agarwal's stark pen and ink line drawings of pairs of shirts. And further long, the fluid lines of Mark Stone's grace the wall as though in molten plastic. But perhaps the most stunning of the works are the diminutive pieces delicately painted by the hand of Ju-Yeon Kim.

'It comes from within and then looks around. I love Ju-Yeon's work. It's very small but she puts her love into her paintings and they're very beautiful.'

The delicacy of the lines and form are complemented by Ju-Yeon's subtle use of colour. Small figures lurk underneath waiting to be discovered and vistas unfurl as you watch. All are abstracts but ones born of reality.

'These paintings will appeal to everyone as long as they come in and enjoy what they say. Realism went to impressionism, to cubism and abstraction. Each artist is influenced by another. Take Van Gogh, I love his brush marks and I would use those in my paintings as an abstract artist.'

Unlike many art exhibitions in Dubai, 'Connectivity' will be on display at the Jamjar until 26 March for a full three months. This time there's no excuse for not getting some culture. And, in the unlikely event that you see absolutely nothing to admire, then simply paint your own at their studio.