Ithra Curiosities
‘Shrapnel V,’ by Iván Navarro from Chile. 2020 LED, glass paint, wood, sand blasted mirror, one way mirror and electric energy.122 x 122 x 15.25 cm. Unique in a series of five. Part of the lthra Art Collection and on display at Seeing and Perceiving exhibit.
Light is a concept we see and understand, yet remains elusive and mysterious in many ways. Here we share a few gems from Ithra’s vault of treasures, such as Ivan Navarro’s piece in the current unique Seeing and Perceiving exhibit and artworks exhibited earlier in WASL-Beyond the Pen exhibit at Ithra in 2018 in collaboration with the British Museum in London.
‘Shrapnel V,’ by Iván Navarro from Chile. 2020 LED, glass paint, wood, sand blasted mirror, one way mirror and electric energy.122 x 122 x 15.25 cm. Unique in a series of five. Part of the lthra Art Collection and on display at Seeing and Perceiving exhibit.
Made from the optical repetition of a painted mirror, reflected on another mirror and LED lights, Shrapnel is Navarro's newest electric sculpture. He probes with his work the ambiguities of language and the evocative power of light. While the title Shrapnel references artillery munitions used during World War I, it also account nowadays for the lethal metal fragments caused by the explosion of bombs. Navarro here plays on the ambiguity between the title's military reference and the joyfulness of the work; and equally on th discrepancy between the explosive weapons and the painted shrapnel he created.
Light is projected onto an entanglement of cables, resulting in a vibrant silhouette if the powerful word nur on the wall. Rashad Alakbarov creates ground breaking calligraphic shadow wrk using recovered and found objects from abandoned warehouses and storerooms. His work is a play of opposite forces, light vs shadow, where one cannot exist without the other.
‘Nur (light)’, by Rashad Alakbarov from Azerbaijan. 2014. Electric cabe and spotlight. 72 x 80 x 94cm. Part of the lthra Art Collection and was on display at WASL-Beyond the Pen exhibit at Ithra.
This artwork combines two key aspects of Ahmed Mater’s life, his interest in traditional Islamic floral patterns, and his former profession as a medical doctor, here visible through the X-ray. Mater said: “I want to use this piece to illuminate. Many of the world’s religions share the idea of illumination, and the importance of light over darkness. It is a concept that has reached mankind through many different conduits.”
‘Illumination Floral,’ by Ahmed Mater from Saudi Arabia. 2017. Gold leaf, paper tea, pomegranate, Dupont Chinese ink and offset X-ray film on paper. 152 x 102cm. Part of the lthra Art Collection and was on display at WASL-Beyond the Pen exhibit at Ithra.
