Abu Dhabi: Translations of visions into reality under the main theme of ‘light’ are all a part of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi exhibition that will open to the public on Wednesday.
Art enthusiasts and members of the public wishing to see and experience unique displays of light in different interactions will enjoy the 19 works on display until January 19, 2015.
“We were all astounded by the high quality of light in the UAE and so choosing the theme and the consequent art works to put on display made a lot of sense and came fairly naturally. Light is a universal theme that everybody, not just artists and art lovers, could relate to,” Susan Davidson, Senior Curator, Collections and Exhibitions, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, told Gulf News.
“We came up with the idea of the exhibition about a year ago and we were just overwhelmed with the responses we have been getting over the past week or so,” she added.
Indeed, the gallery features art installations, videos and environments that the capital has never seen before.
The exhibition is divided into five sections that explore the main theme in different ways, namely, perceptual, reflected, transcendent, activated, and celestial light where artworks dating as far back as the 1960s will be showcased.
As only 18 are located inside the Manarat Al Saadiyat exhibition, the final piece will be available through an interactive project called Corniche Pulse to be launched on January 7 and available until January 18.
“Pulse Corniche is the culmination of a series of interactive public art works that debuted at the 2007 Venice Bienniale with Pulse Room. People are free to participate by holding a sensor placed in the centre of the plaza that converts the electrical activity of their heart into a unique lighting sequence. The intensity and direction of the lights makes visual the different biometric rhythms of each participant,” a statement by the Tourism and Culture Authority - Abu Dhabi (TCA-AD) said.
As part of the exhibition, a number of art talks, workshops and events catering to individuals from a range of age groups will also be launched.
Box:
Participating artists:
Perceptual Light: Larry Bell, Dan Flavin, Robert Irwin, Keith Sonnier, and Douglas Wheeler.
Reflected Light: Heinz Mack, Otto Piene, Ghada Amer and Rachid Koraïchi.
Transcendent Light: Monir Farmanfarmian, Samia Halaby, Shirazeh Houshiary, and Y.Z. Kami.
Activated Light: Angela Bulloch, Hassan Khan, and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer.
Celestial Light: Bharti Kher, Yayoi Kusama, and Song Dong.