Abdul Qader Al Rais: Nuqta: The Diacritic

This is the first ever solo exhibition of the pioneering Emirati Artist Abdul Qader al Rais. “Nuqta” presents a series of the artist’s paintings across the third period of his work, which is marked by his engagement with bringing abstraction and local cultural heritage into dialogue. Al Rais incorporates the contours of calligraphy as well as the rocky cliffs, deserts, and shores of the region’s unique natural world into his rigorous study of the fundamental elements of color, form, and light. The works exhibited range from oil on canvas to watercolor on paper, and offers a painterly alternative to current understandings of the UAE’s art history as rooted in highly concept-based and anti-aesthetic installations.