Vanguards: Masters of Middle Eastern Contemporary Art

The installation brings together pioneering artists whose practices shaped the visual language of Middle Eastern modern and post-war art. Across the Maghreb, the Levant, Iraq, and the Gulf, these artists transformed modernism by grounding it in local material, landscape and memory. Rather than adopting European traditions as fixed models, they reimagined them through the textures, rhythms and histories of their own environments. Working across painting, sculpture, textile and printmaking, the artists in this exhibition developed new visual vocabularies whereby line, surface and material become carriers of cultural continuity and lived experience. Their works reveal a regional conversation in which abstraction, form and gesture articulate a modernism that is both locally grounded and globally resonant.

Landscape emerges as a central thread throughout the exhibition. Across the region, artists respond to environments shaped by political history, social transformation and collective memory. Line, geometric form and rhythmic repetition appear repeatedly as visual strategies through which artists translate landscape into abstraction. The work of Dia Al-Azzawi reflects the political urgency and intellectual energy of Iraq’s modernist circles. The painting and textile work of Etel Adnan offers intimate formats that feel both diaristic and monumental. The installation also features a painting by Saliba Douaihy, whose practice was shaped by the mountainous landscape of northern Lebanon; as well as works by Willy Aractingi, Shafic Abboud, and Paul Guiragossian.

Emerging from the Casablanca Art School in Morocco, artists like Mohamed Melehi sought to redefine modern art by drawing upon vernacular patterns, craft traditions, and popular culture. Their work emphasised the aesthetic potential of everyday life and public space, proposing modernism as a shared cultural experience rather than an elite language. Their works insist on the aesthetic experience of the quotidian, proposing modernism as something to be lived and shared.

Within the Gulf, artists expanded the material possibilities of artistic practice. Hassan Sharif and Mohamed Ibrahim belong to the first generation of contemporary Emirati artists, often referred to as The Five. Their experimental use of everyday materials, repetition and process introduced new approaches to conceptual practice in the United Arab Emirates. Engaging directly with the desert environment and the rhythms of daily life, their work reshaped the boundaries between art, labour and material culture.

Artists in the exhibition also explore the human figure as a site of experimentation; Huguette Caland’s paintings dissolve body and line into playful, daring landscapes that blur the boundaries between abstraction and figuration. Marwan Kassab-Bachi transforms the human face into a terrain of painterly excavation, where portraiture is a site of psychological exploration rather than likeness. One of Bahrain’s foremost artists Abdul Rahim Sharif’s paintings express themes such as alienation, indifference, hardship, introversion and emotional disconnection using vibrant colours and portraiture.

Sculpture, finally, offers another register of permanence and touch. Works by Mohamed Ibrahim and Chaouki Choukini examine abstracted human and animal forms through papier mâché and carved wood.

Presented in Dubai, a city shaped by movement, exchange and cultural encounter, the exhibition invites viewers to reconsider these artists as key voices in the formation of modern art across the Middle East and North Africa. Their practices reveal modernism not as a borrowed aesthetic but as a dynamic field. Through their innovations, these artists continue to influence how modern and contemporary art across the region is understood today.

The Arts Club would like to thank Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, The Farjam Collection, Ramin Salsali SPM Collection, The Yes Collection, Green Art Gallery, Lawrie Shabibi, and Waddington Custot, whose loaned works have been integral in bringing this exhibition to fruition.

First Floor

Dia Azzawi
Broken Dream, 2008
oil on canvas
140.5 x 180 x 3 cm
Artwork courtesy of Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah

Abdul Rahim Sharif
The Gulf Champion
oil on canvas
132 x 162 cm
Artwork courtesy of SPM Collection Ramin Salsali

Mohammed Melehi
Noir Mauve, 2009
Oil on canvas
178 x 158.5 x 4 cm
Artwork courtesy of Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah

Chaouki Choukini
Griffes, 2018
Ioko
96 x 38 x 15 cm, 10 kgs
Artwork courtesy the Artist and Green Art Gallery, Dubai
Photo by Anna Shtraus

Chaouki Choukini
Personnage, 2015
Chêne
85 x 18.5 x 15 cm, 2 kgs
Artwork courtesy the Artist and Green Art Gallery, Dubai
Photo by Anna Shtraus

Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim
Standing Body 2, 2020
Cardboard, papier-mâché
152 x 70 x 51 cm
Artwork courtesy of The Farjam Collection

Abdul Qader Al-Raes
Untitled, 2004
150 x 150 cm
Artwork courtesy of The Farjam Collection

Mehdi Moutashar
Zone B#4, 1976
Silkscreen and collage(paper) on cardboard
Artwork courtesy of The Farjam Collection

Paul Guiragossian
Journey, 1986-1987
Oil on canvas
100 x 80.5 cm
Artwork courtesy of The Yes Collection

Fateh Moudarres
The Refugees, 1996
Oil on canvas
74.5 x 54.2 cm
Artwork courtesy of The Yes Collection

Hassan Sharif
The Flying House
oil on canvas
100 x 150 cm
Artwork courtesy of SPM Collection Ramin Salsali

Huguette Caland
Bribes de Corps, 1971
oil on canvas
96 x 96 cm
Artwork courtesy of Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah

Etel Adnan
Envol (In Flight), 2017
Aubusson-Felletin tapestry woven in the Pinton Workshop Edition 3 of 3 + 1 AP
141 x 201 cm
Artwork courtesy of Waddington Custot Dubai

Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim
Heritage #6, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
155 x 155 x 3 cm
Artwork courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi

Third Floor

Dia Azzawi
Meditation, 2008
acrylic on canvas
120 x 100 x 3 cm
Artwork courtesy of Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah

Salah Abdel Kerim
The Fish, circa 1960s
Mixed media on panel, framed
48.5 x 48.5 cm
Artwork courtesy of The Farjam Collection

Willy Aractingi
Blue Panther, 1990-1994
Oil on canvas
80 x 99.5 cm
Artwork courtesy of The Yes Collection

Marwan Kassab-Bachi
Untitled, 1992
Pencil, aquarell and oil on paper
107 x 86.5 cm
Artwork courtesy of The Yes Collection

Louay Kayyali
Untitled, 1974
Oil on masonite
91.5 x 112 cm
Artwork courtesy of The Yes Collection

Hussain Sharif
Untitled, 2019
Oil on canvas
100 x 100 cm
Artwork courtesy of The Farjam Collection

Saliba Douaihy
Abstract Landscape, 1968
Acrylic on canvas
51 x 61 cm
Artwork courtesy of The Yes Collection

Hassan Sharif
After Press Conference No.4, 2008
Oil on canvas
201 x 145 x 3 cm
Artwork courtesy of Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah

Shafic Abboud
Composition, 1960
Oil and tempera on paper laid on board
45.5 x 37 cm
Artwork courtesy of The Yes Collection

Paul Guiragossian
Motherhood, Circa early 1980’s
Oil on canvas
110 x 70 cm
Artwork courtesy of The Yes Collection