Spring 2010
April 2010
Convex: A New Perspective
Solo exhibition of Shaikh Rashid Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa
Bahrain National Museum
11 April 2010
Solo exhibition of Shaikh Rashid Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa
Bahrain National Museum
11 April 2010
BAHRAIN HIGH SOCIETY was out in full force the night of the opening of Convex: A New Perspective at the Bahrain National Museum. The unprecedented exhibition was attended by a mix of VIPs, visiting artists, curators and collectors who jetted to the kingdom for the event.
At around 7.30 PM, a raison d’être of sorts began surfacing. A throng of well-groomed locals - artists, affluent collectors and socialites walked on the lobby of the museum to the glare of paparazzi flash, one glimpsed - at least for a moment - the worlds of high society, fashion, and art intersected in smooth, choreographed precision and flooded the museum, which was adorned with over 50 works of art by Bahraini artist, Shaikh Rashid Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.
As guests walk through an eerie torch-lit façade, the tower-like walls of the exhibition space treated in black matte finish opens -suddenly a temple to Minimalism.
These works created from 2002-2010 reveal Shaikh Rashid as an artist for whom the level of pictorial invention - from landscapes to figurative, to two-dimensional fragmented modernism - is both highly sophisticated and nuanced.
Through his work as an artist, collector and arts patron Shaikh Rashid help shape the nation’s cultural landscape.
At around 7.30 PM, a raison d’être of sorts began surfacing. A throng of well-groomed locals - artists, affluent collectors and socialites walked on the lobby of the museum to the glare of paparazzi flash, one glimpsed - at least for a moment - the worlds of high society, fashion, and art intersected in smooth, choreographed precision and flooded the museum, which was adorned with over 50 works of art by Bahraini artist, Shaikh Rashid Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.
As guests walk through an eerie torch-lit façade, the tower-like walls of the exhibition space treated in black matte finish opens -suddenly a temple to Minimalism.
These works created from 2002-2010 reveal Shaikh Rashid as an artist for whom the level of pictorial invention - from landscapes to figurative, to two-dimensional fragmented modernism - is both highly sophisticated and nuanced.
Through his work as an artist, collector and arts patron Shaikh Rashid help shape the nation’s cultural landscape.
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October 2010
About Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa
Rashid Al Khalifa’s artistic career is a testament to his creative maturity. Having
practiced as an artist in Bahrain for over forty years, he has progressed through varying styles; beginning in the 1960s with a focus on landscape painting, moving on to more figurative work in the 1980s, and finally towards abstraction in the early 1990s. The natural development of his work has enabled the entirety of his oeuvre to materialise as an enlightening and fascinating collection.
This exhibition presents us with a glimpse into an extremely diverse body of work, yet one that maintains a sense of unity despite its diversity. Regardless of his progressively abstract style, the atmospheric and mysterious essence that this collection conveys remains constant throughout.
Rashid’s artistic career has been as experimental as it has been progressive. And it is
because of his experimental nature as well as his deep interest in design, that in the late
1990s, he stumbled upon something subtle, yet so effective.
The formula was simple: the canvas was stretched by approximately 25
degrees. The result was powerful: a convex canvas that engages the viewer and
simultaneously allows light, colour and texture to rest harmoniously on its surface.
Rashid has painted directly onto these canvases since the year 2000. And so, within
this exhibition, we will also witness the development of the convex canvas since its
conception. We will observe how it has become a necessary tool used to enhance
Rashid’s increasingly abstract imagery; a device that enables his paintings to be seen in
a different ‘light’.
In the words of Rashid Al Khalifa, the convex canvas offers the viewer, “a new
perspective”.
Rashid Al Khalifa’s artistic career is a testament to his creative maturity. Having
practiced as an artist in Bahrain for over forty years, he has progressed through varying styles; beginning in the 1960s with a focus on landscape painting, moving on to more figurative work in the 1980s, and finally towards abstraction in the early 1990s. The natural development of his work has enabled the entirety of his oeuvre to materialise as an enlightening and fascinating collection.
This exhibition presents us with a glimpse into an extremely diverse body of work, yet one that maintains a sense of unity despite its diversity. Regardless of his progressively abstract style, the atmospheric and mysterious essence that this collection conveys remains constant throughout.
Rashid’s artistic career has been as experimental as it has been progressive. And it is
because of his experimental nature as well as his deep interest in design, that in the late
1990s, he stumbled upon something subtle, yet so effective.
The formula was simple: the canvas was stretched by approximately 25
degrees. The result was powerful: a convex canvas that engages the viewer and
simultaneously allows light, colour and texture to rest harmoniously on its surface.
Rashid has painted directly onto these canvases since the year 2000. And so, within
this exhibition, we will also witness the development of the convex canvas since its
conception. We will observe how it has become a necessary tool used to enhance
Rashid’s increasingly abstract imagery; a device that enables his paintings to be seen in
a different ‘light’.
In the words of Rashid Al Khalifa, the convex canvas offers the viewer, “a new
perspective”.
EDUCATION
National Higher Diploma in Arts and Design, Britain
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
·2010 Bahrain National Musem
·1997 Art Department, Shuman Arts Organization Jordan
·1996 De Caliet Gallery, Milan Italy
·1996 El Kato Kayyel Gallery, Milan Italy
·1982 Middle East Institute, Washington, D.C USA
·1982 Sheraton Hotel Bahrain
·1970 Dilmun Hotel Bahrain
SELECTED INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
·2007 Bahrain Contemporary Art -Unesco Paris
·2005 Modern Art Exhibition Organized by the by the Royal Ireland, College of Surgeons of Ireland in Dublin
·2004 Duo show with Balqees Fakhro -Berlin Germany; Annual Art Exhibition 32- Bahrain National Museum Bahrain
·2002 Bahraini Culture Week- Amman Jordan; Bahraini Culture Week -Peking China
·1999 Taipei Art Exhibition Taiwan; Sharjah Intl. Art Biennial UAE; Bahrain - Delmun Exhibition Paris
·1998 Bahrain Arts Society Exhibition, Gallery Alexander Leodoux France
·1997 Art Expo Singapore; Art America Exhibition, Miami USA; Europe Art Festival, Geneva Switzerland; Bahrain Arts Society Exhibition, Cannes France
·1996 Europe Art Festival, Geneva Switzerland; Bahrain Artists Exhibition Rome; Sharjah Biennial Exhibition UAE
·1995 Joint Exhibition with Abbas Al-Mousawi, Hotel Du Switzerland, Rond, Geneva; Joint Exhibition at the UN Center, Lusanne Switzerland
·1989 Bahrain art Society Exhibition Cairo
·1988 Festival of Asian Artists Malaysia; New Art Center Iraq
·1986 First GCC Art Exhibition Japan
·1985 Cairo Biennial Exhibition Cairo; Alia Center Jordan
·1984 Bahraini Artists, Leighton House England; Salon des Artists Francises, Grand Palais Paris
·1981 Raffles Hotel Singapore
·1978 Hilton Hotel Bahrain
·1975 Gulf Hotel Bahrain
·1973 Periodic GCC Youth Exhibition
·1972 College of Arts Exhibition England
·1969 First Art Exhibition held at the Gulf Hotel Bahrain
AWARDS
·1991 GCC Golden Palm Award Doha
·1989 GCC Dana Award Kuwait
National Higher Diploma in Arts and Design, Britain
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
·2010 Bahrain National Musem
·1997 Art Department, Shuman Arts Organization Jordan
·1996 De Caliet Gallery, Milan Italy
·1996 El Kato Kayyel Gallery, Milan Italy
·1982 Middle East Institute, Washington, D.C USA
·1982 Sheraton Hotel Bahrain
·1970 Dilmun Hotel Bahrain
SELECTED INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
·2007 Bahrain Contemporary Art -Unesco Paris
·2005 Modern Art Exhibition Organized by the by the Royal Ireland, College of Surgeons of Ireland in Dublin
·2004 Duo show with Balqees Fakhro -Berlin Germany; Annual Art Exhibition 32- Bahrain National Museum Bahrain
·2002 Bahraini Culture Week- Amman Jordan; Bahraini Culture Week -Peking China
·1999 Taipei Art Exhibition Taiwan; Sharjah Intl. Art Biennial UAE; Bahrain - Delmun Exhibition Paris
·1998 Bahrain Arts Society Exhibition, Gallery Alexander Leodoux France
·1997 Art Expo Singapore; Art America Exhibition, Miami USA; Europe Art Festival, Geneva Switzerland; Bahrain Arts Society Exhibition, Cannes France
·1996 Europe Art Festival, Geneva Switzerland; Bahrain Artists Exhibition Rome; Sharjah Biennial Exhibition UAE
·1995 Joint Exhibition with Abbas Al-Mousawi, Hotel Du Switzerland, Rond, Geneva; Joint Exhibition at the UN Center, Lusanne Switzerland
·1989 Bahrain art Society Exhibition Cairo
·1988 Festival of Asian Artists Malaysia; New Art Center Iraq
·1986 First GCC Art Exhibition Japan
·1985 Cairo Biennial Exhibition Cairo; Alia Center Jordan
·1984 Bahraini Artists, Leighton House England; Salon des Artists Francises, Grand Palais Paris
·1981 Raffles Hotel Singapore
·1978 Hilton Hotel Bahrain
·1975 Gulf Hotel Bahrain
·1973 Periodic GCC Youth Exhibition
·1972 College of Arts Exhibition England
·1969 First Art Exhibition held at the Gulf Hotel Bahrain
AWARDS
·1991 GCC Golden Palm Award Doha
·1989 GCC Dana Award Kuwait
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