Shaikha Al Mazrou b. 1988

Shaikha Al Mazrou (b. 1988, UAE) received her MFA in 2014 at the Chelsea College of
Fine Art, University of the Arts, London where she was awarded the prestigious MFA Student Prize. Prior to that she studied at the College of Fine Arts and Design, University of Sharjah where she later was a sculpture lecturer. Currently she is a Visiting Assistant Professor at NYU Abu Dhabi.

Al Mazrou’s practice is anchored in the history of art, borrowing formally from minimalism and intellectually from conceptual art. Influenced by artists from the Modernist and Bauhaus Movements - such as Paul Klee, Carle Andre and Wassily Kandinsky - Al Mazrou uses the formal aspects of minimalism to engage with a current fascination with materiality in art. In her practice she combines and evolves ideas from contemporary artistic movements similarly preoccupied with formal and material elements, from colour theory to geometric abstraction. 

Often in her works she combines mass-produced materials - such as electronic waste or construction materials - with colour and form, experimenting with these resources to create abstract geometric arrangements. Fascinated by notions of physical space, her sculptures and installations materialise as simple gestures that emphasise the representation of tension, weight and space.

Al Mazrou’s large-scale installations and sculptures form a natural and important extension to her studio practice, and she has been the beneficiary of a number of public art commissions. In October 2022, Al Mazrou’s Red Stack (2022) - the largest single work by the artist to date – was presented at Frieze Sculpture 2022 in Regents Park, London. The public art exhibition curated by Clare Lilley, ran alongside Frieze London and Frieze Masters. Her permanent public artworks include When Mountains are Domesticated (2022), commissioned by the Royal Commission for AlUla for AlUla International Airport’s executive terminal; The Plinth (2021) commissioned for Expo 2020 Dubai’s Public Art Programme, curated by Tarek Abou El Fetouh and Green House: Interior yet Exterior, Manmade yet Natural (2018) commissioned by Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai.

SOLO  EXHIBITIONS
Recent and upcoming solo exhibitions include Dwelling in the Gap, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 14 November 2022; Art Dubai with Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2021; Rearranging the Riddle, Maraya Art Centre Sharjah, Sharjah, 2020; Expansion/Extension, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2019; Solo Projects, Abu Dhabi Art with Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, 2018.

Group Exhibitions

She has participated in a number of group exhibitions including: ICON. ICONIC., Art Here 2022 Richard Mille Art Prize, Louvre Abu Dhabi (2022), Art Dubai, with Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai (2022); Desert X AlUla (2022); Blue, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai (2020), Paulo Cunha e Silva Art Prize Finalist Exhibition, Galeria Municipal do Porto, Porto (2020), Upsurge: Waves, Colour And Illusion, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai (2020), MATERIALIZE, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai (2019), Artissima, Dialogue section, with Lawrie Shabibi, Torino (2018), From Barcelona to Abu Dhabi: Works from the MACBA Art Collection in Dialogue with the Emirates, organised by ADMAF, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi (2018), Beyond: Emerging Artists, Abu Dhabi Art (2017), Art of Nature, Abu Dhabi Festival, Umm Al Emarat Park, Abu Dhabi (2017), Homage Without An Homage, curated by Cristiana De Marchi, Art Dubai, Julius Baer Lounge, Dubai (2017), Faculty Show, Al Rewaq Gallery, College of Fine Art, University of Sharjah, Sharjah (2017), Abu Dhabi Art, with Lawrie Shabibi, Abu Dhabi (2016), Past Forward: Contemporary Art from the Emirates, Bolivar Art Gallery, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA (2016).

Her works have been acquired by significant international collections, including The Pizzuti Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, USA; Art Jameel Collection, Dubai; The Farjam Foundation, Dubai; The Dubai Collection, Dubai; The Royal Commission for AlUla, Saudi Arabia; EXPO Dubai Collection, Dubai; Ellie Khouri Collection, Dubai; Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, Abu Dhabi; and Cleveland Clinic, Abu Dhabi. 

She is a winner of the Paulo Cunha e Silva Art Prize (2020) and shortlisted for the Louvre Abu Dhabi Richard Mille Art Prize.

Al Mazrou currently lives and works in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.