To complement the solo exhibition held at Meem Gallery from November, the gallery will exhibit a selection of works from the same series, Mantra, at Abu Dhabi Art.
This year at Abu Dhabi Art, Meem Gallery presents a solo booth featuring new work by the celebrated Egyptian sculptor, Armen Agop.
The artist, based in Italy since 2000, is well known internationally for his black granite sculptures; having exhibited with regularity through Europe, the Arab World and Asia. A series of sculptures will be accompanied by Agop’s paintings, shown for the first time.
The series of sculptures entitled, Mantra is a physical documentation of a meditative, spiritual practice. Each artwork is undertaken with a focus, a mantra set by the artist, created by a repeated action. Choosing one of the smallest elements, the point, and applying it over and over, Agop seeks to discover its limitless potential and to reach profound experiences. Through the carving, grinding and perpetual shaping of the material, this ruminative practice is undertaken.
In contrast, the drawings and paintings deliver a divergence in concept. In the works on paper and canvas, it is the meditative process itself that unveils the composition through the artist’s mark-making, with the paintings manifesting as a result of the duration of time and rituality. At first glance, these ethereal works resemble the inherent monumentality of Agop’s sculptural work – large, black expanses of space. Upon closer inspection, the they open up to reveal a collection of points in colourful hues, lightly and purposefully placed upon the canvas, almost cosmic-like in their composition.
