Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to participate in the fourth edition of Abu Dhabi Art, which will take place, from November 7 – 10, 2012, in The Saadiyat Cultural District, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. During this year’s fair the gallery will feature two distinct exhibitions: one devoted to a selection of new works by Middle Eastern and International contemporary artists represented by Leila Heller, including many works which will be on view for the first time, and a second, highly-anticipated, two-person show of historically significant paintings by the legendary 20th Century American abstract expressionist artists Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner.”

Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner were two of the most influential painters of the abstract expressionist movement in the United States. We are delighted to present this special show, which will certainly be of interest to collectors at Abu Dhabi Art,” says Diana Burroughs, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the gallery, who curated the selection of works being shown. “The Leila Heller Gallery booth at the Abu Dhabi art fair is pivotal in that it will create a platform for two of the most prolific of abstract expressionist painters to engage in an innovative dialogue with a Middle Eastern audience.”

The exhibition of gallery artists will include 10 new, large-scale works on paper by Iraqi artist Ayad Alkadhi; Three new circular mixed media paintings in oil, embroidery and sequins by Turkish artist Kezban Arca Batibeki, widely regarded as one of the most insightful artists concerned with popular culture involved in the contemporary art scene in Turkey; Catching the Moon, a video projection into a water-well of stainless steel, which is a continuation of Farideh Lashai’s Rabbit in Wonderland series; and new ceramic tile installations by Iranian painter Khosrow Hassanzadeh. Also on view: photographs by Iranian artist Mitra Tabrizian (the subject of a solo show at the Tate Museum in 2008), as well as photogrpahs by the Nigerian artist Iké Udé, who has previously created portraits of such notable and important Middle Eastern collectors as Paula Al Laskari, Mohammed Afkhami, Alia Al Senussi, and Sharifa Al Sudairi.  Additionally on view in the booth will be works by Rashid Al Khalifa, one of Bahrain’s leading artists. “When we put the booth together and chose which of Khalifa’s works to include, it occurred to us that his work was actually a fascinating 21st Century iteration of the iconic drip painting made famous by master Contemporary art icon Jackson Pollock — whose 1951 graphic black and white screen prints, we are showing,” says Heller. “Pollock’s works will be exhibited alongside oil and collage abstract works from the 1980s by Pollock’s wife, Lee Krasner, done just before her death in 1984.”

Rounding out the works being shown at Abu Dhabi Art are Picasso’s Trois Tetes (India ink, pencil and wash on paper) and works by Hadieh Shafie and Reza Derakshani.

Visit us at Booth P12
VIP Preview: Tuesday, November 6, 6 – 10PM
Regular Hours: Wednesday and Thursday: 3 – 10PM
Saturday and Friday: 2 – 10PM

UAE Pavilion and Manarat Al Saadiyat
Saadiyat Cultural District
Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
+971567089418