Shaikha Al Mazrou b. 1988
Shaikha Al Mazrou is considered to be among the most dynamic and promising artists of her generation from the UAE. Her sculptural experimentations and investigations are expressions of materiality—articulations of tension and the interplay between form and content as well as an intuitive, keenly felt understanding of materials and their physical properties. She combines and evolves ideas from contemporary artistic movements similarly preoccupied with formal and material elements, from colour theory to geometric abstraction.
-
Scales, 2017
-
Engage, 2018
-
Exhale , 2018
-
Green house: Interior yet Exterior, Manmade yet Natural, 2018
-
Enlarge, 2018
-
Exhale, 2018
-
Exhale, 2018
-
Untitled, 2019
-
Untitled, 2019
-
Rafter, 2019
-
Untitled, 2019
-
To Create Meaning In Perception, 2020
-
Despite The Weather (complete set of ten pieces), 2020
-
Visual Space, 2021
-
Ephemerality and Permanence, 2021
-
Open Window, 2021
-
The Plinth, 2021
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.
-
SHAIKHA AL MAZROU: DWELLING IN THE GAP
14 Nov 2022 - 5 Jan 2023 GalleryDwelling in the Gap is Shaikha Al Mazrou’s second solo exhibition at Lawrie Shabibi. Here Al Mazrou develops the forms and language of her practice, and extends her investigations into...Read more -
Blue
21 Nov 2020 - 12 Jan 2021 GalleryBlue explores the dialectic between meaning and visual sensation. Saturated with meanings - freedom, intuition, imagination, expansiveness, inspiration, sadness, faith, spirituality, wisdom, peace, serenity, ethereality, infinity to name just a...Read more -
Paulo Cunha e Silva Art Prize
Shaikha Al Mazrou at Galeria Municipal do Porto, Portugal 12 Sep - 12 Nov 2020 MuseumsThe Paulo Cunha e Silva Art Prize was created in 2015, by Porto City Council, as a tribute to the former Councilor for Culture, Paulo Cunha e Silva, and is...Read more -
Upsurge: Waves, Colour and Illusion
18 Mar - 1 Sep 2020 GalleryBringing together the diverse range of practices of a multi-generational group of artists - Mohamed Melehi (b.1936, Morocco), Mona Saudi (b.1945, Jordan), Hamra Abbas (b.1976, Kuwait), Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim (b....Read more -
Rearranging the Riddle
Shaikha Al Mazrou at Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah 7 Mar - 25 Jul 2020 MuseumsShaikha Al Mazrou’s sculptural experimentations and investigations are expressions of materiality—articulations of tension and the interplay between form and content as well as an intuitive, keenly felt understanding of materials...Read more -
Materialize
Maliheh Afnan, Farhad Ahrarnia, Shaikha Al Mazrou, Asad Faulwell, Fathi Hassan, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Mona Saudi, Driss Ouadahi, Shahpour Pouyan 18 Mar - 7 Apr 2019 GalleryOpening 18 March in Warehouse 13 -a large space just across from its gallery within Alserkal Avenue- Lawrie Shabibi presents a major group exhibition to coincide with the 12th edition...Read more -
Expansion / Extension
Shaikha Al Mazrou 17 Sep - 1 Nov 2018 GalleryFor her debut solo exhibition Shaikha Al Mazrou presents Expansion/Extension. The title draws from the artist’s own experience conceiving the show – expanding and extending her research into the meaning...Read more
-
Interview with Shaikha Al Mazrou in The Times Sharjah Report
-
Shaikha Al Mazrou in Canvas
Laura Egerton, Canvas, January 1, 2019 -
Shaikha Al Mazrou on Tea with Culture
Wael Hattar, Tea With Culture -
Shaikha Al Mazrou in Architectural Digest, Middle East
Jumana Abdul-Razzaq , Architectural Digest ME, September 10, 2018 -
Shaikha Al Mazrou in The National
Melissa Gronlund, The National, March 29, 2017 -
Shaikha Al Mazrou in the Financial Times
Arsalan Mohammad, Financial Times, December 10, 2016 -
Shaikha Al Mazrou in the Khaleej Times
Kelly Clarke, The Khaleej Times, March 9, 2015 -
Computer Love - an interview with Shaikha Al Mazrou
Asmaa Al-Shabibi, Harpers Bazaar Art Arabia, November 1, 2014