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NYUAD Presents Artists Mohammed Kazem and Jessica Mein in Two Solo Shows Reflecting on “Place” in the UAE

Jessica Mein, Sliced Sky

Press Release

The New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Institute will host two solo art exhibitions at the University’s Downtown Campus from February 24 to May 2. The exhibitions will feature two UAE-based artists, Mohammed Kazem and Jessica Mein, both of whom experiment with depicting location in the UAE.

Leading Dubai-based Emirati artist Mohammed Kazem will present Directions, a new installation designed especially for the NYUAD campus. It belongs to his Directions series of performances and interventions that conceptually uproot sites from their GPS locations. Also on view will be a selection of his "scratch paintings," likewise activated by the quality of light. Kazem will represent the UAE at the 2013 Venice Biennale in a solo exhibition curated by Reem Fadda of the Guggenheim, marking the first time that the UAE will be represented at the event by a single artist.

Along with Kazem, Dubai-based Brazilian artist Jessica Mein will present Sliced Sky, her intricate, labor-intensive drawings of the huge power lines spanning the outskirts of Dubai. Her drawings, collages, and stop-motion animation endow the power lines with an abstract life of their own. Mein has exhibited extensively, with major solo shows in New York, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, and the UAE. This is her second solo show in the UAE and her first in Abu Dhabi.

"We are honored to present the projects of Mohammed Kazem and Jessica Mein at NYU Abu Dhabi. I’m struck by the link between their unique approaches to representing ‘place.’ These exhibitions are part of a series through which NYU Abu Dhabi hopes to contribute to the emerging art scene here in Abu Dhabi," said Maya Allison, exhibition director at NYUAD.

An artist’s talk and reception will be held at NYUAD’s Downtown Campus for the public on April 6. The exhibitions will be open to the public on Sundays, from 3-9pm, or by appointment. For details, contact nyuad.exhibitions@nyu.edu.

About NYU Abu Dhabi

NYU Abu Dhabi is the first comprehensive liberal arts and research campus in the Middle East to be operated abroad by a major American research university. NYU Abu Dhabi has integrated a highly selective undergraduate curriculum across the disciplines with a world center for advanced research and scholarship. The university enables its students in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and arts to succeed in an increasingly interdependent world and advance cooperation and progress on humanity’s shared challenges. NYU Abu Dhabi’s high-achieving students have come from over 115 countries and speak over 115 languages. Together, NYU's campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai form the backbone of a unique global university, giving faculty and students opportunities to experience varied learning environments and immersion in other cultures at one or more of the numerous study-abroad sites NYU maintains on six continents.