ARTAFRICAarranged in chromatic order. In
both works the ‘computerness’ is
deconstructed, the very ‘digitality’
of the machine is stripped bare,
both physically and metaphysically,
in order to ironically refer to the
uselessness of material in our
digital age. At the same time, this
makes us aware of the dangers of
the complete virtualisation of our
world. Thus it is not by chance that
the critical investigation continued
in another piece from 2013, titled
Red on White I. Composed of
damaged computer parts – all of them painted completely white – one of the corners is
painted red in such a way that, from a certain angle, it becomes an exact circle. Both the
title and the colour-display bears direct reference to Russian Suprematism of a century
ago, though in Shaikha Al Mazrou’s version the possibility of representing the essential
aesthetic qualities of (abstract) art is analysed from an ironic post-digital perspective.The artist’s interest in the image and sculptural vision is constituted from a certain
standing point and is also manifested in another new work from 2014, commissioned
by The Arab Fund for Art and Culture and installed in a public space in front of the Al
Jalila Cultural Centre for Children. The visitor finds an abstract installation of colourful,
parallel scaffolding poles. However, if seen from the right spot, the lines of tubes create
the illusion of a cube, hence not by chance the title of the work Stand here. Her choice
of primary colours (red, yellow and blue) reiterates the avant-garde investigations of
the essentiality of the artwork – just think of Mondrian’s late oeuvre for example – but
Shaikha Al Mazrou’s question is more directed to the fine demarcation line between 2D
and 3D, and, in fact, the illusion of both.
In the last body of work, titled Tension (2014 - 2015), created while still finishing her MA
studies at the Chelsea College of Fine Art in London, the artist continues her ironic
experiments, questioning some of the most elementary sculptural qualities, including
volume and weight. Volume, as the quality that defines spatial amount and display of
the material in relation to void and weight, at first seems to be a standard feature of the
material; however, this is where Shaikha Al Mazrou is fooling the viewer. The seemingly
heavy stone-looking balls, balanced with what appear to be elastic ribbons are, in fact,
ceramic balls and the ribbons are made of rigid metal; creating a sense of mental and
sometimes physical tension that the viewer feels when observing the works. The final
result is not a cheap illusion for the sake of deceiving the public, much more the aesthetic
demonstration of the power of balance and ultimately the essence of sculpture.Dr. Zoltán Somhegyi is a Hungarian art historian, holding a Ph.D. in Aesthetics.
Based in the United Arab Emirates and teaching at the University of Sharjah, he
is the Middle East Editor-at-Large of ART AFRICA.BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS / DR. ZOLTÁN SOMHEGYI ON SHAIKHA AL MAZROU 4/4
BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS Shaikha Al Mazrou, Stand here, 2014.
Scaffolding poles, 500 x 500 x 540 cm.
Courtesy of the artist and Lawrie Shabibi Gallery, Dubai.