Ghada Amer: Earth. Love. Fire

For its debut exhibitions in November 2015, Leila Heller Gallery Dubai have presented two distinct  exhibitions by the artists Ghada Amer and Wim Delvoye.

The Dubai location represents a first by a New York based gallery and at 15,000 square feet, will be the largest in the region.

Earth. Love. Fire, marks the first solo exhibition of works by Ghada Amer in the Arab world in nearly two decades. Curated by Dr. Shiva Balaghi, the exhibit will introduce Amer’s newest artistic foray into ceramics, works made during a two year residency at Greenwich House Pottery in NYC. Explaining the show’s title, Amer says, “It’s a passionate title, because I feel passionate about my ceramics.” An extension of her exploration of the sculptural form, Amer’s ceramic pieces represent the ultimate rebellion against painting as a historically male dominated artistic genre. Working against the grain of gender norms of East and West, Amer broke free from expected artistic codes. She developed her own relationship to the canvas, painting with the thread and needle. With her new body of ceramic sculptures, Amer pushes further into her formal experimentation, now painting with clay.

With her canvases and her sculpture, Amer upends formal expectations, bridging the disjunction between fine art and craftsmanship. Although entirely new, the ceramic works bear characteristic marks of Amer’s oeuvre—bright colors, unexpected forms, and a sense of irony and wit. According to Balaghi “This passion, a joyous experimentation with a new medium, the playful use of color, the immersion in the materiality of clay—all of this has led to a brilliant body of work.” The exhibition will feature 28 ceramics paintings and abstract sculptures in dialogue with new paintings and Amer’s iconic stainless steel sculptures.

According to Heller “Our goal is to mount a series of exhibitions by major international artists. I am very excited to have exhibitions by artists of Wim and Ghada’s stature for our opening.”