In New York, More Eyes Turn to Middle Eastern Art
Al-Fanar Media, October 25, 2019
By Heba Elkayal
In New York City this year, art made by Arab artists or focusing on themes about the Arab world will be a firm part of the art season’s roster of gallery shows and museum exhibitions.
The number of shows, spanning both commercial and institutional spaces, points to a shift toward increased curiosity about Arab art—a field of modern and contemporary visual arts that has been largely unexplored and somewhat misunderstood by both galleries and collectors, and by academics who recognize art criticism’s oversight of the field.
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Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s
New York University’s Grey Art Gallery, January 14 to April 4, 2020
Culled from the Barjeel Art Foundation collection, the exhibition seeks to explore the development of abstraction in the Arab world through a multitude of mediums including sculpture, paintings and works on paper.