British artist Al Braithwaite likes to deliberately displace and relocate familiar objects and sights to present them in a new context in his work. In previous shows he has presented portraits of Middle Eastern leaders in classical European frames, and displayed common media phrases in mirror writing.
In his latest exhibition in Dubai, “Breathe in the Healing Love of the Universe, I Am with You”, he once again playfully provokes viewers to look afresh at things that are ever-present in everyday modern life, and to think about the technology, the corporate, political or religious ideologies and brand myths that overtly or covertly shape our attitudes, beliefs, aspirations and identity.
By presenting a partial and fragmented view of objects that we see constantly on our phones, computers and television screens and all around us, the artist invites us to step out of the digital world and become aware of the subliminal influences on our minds, encouraging us to liberate ourselves from set ways of thinking and behaviour patterns and to take a holistic, more cosmic view of our world.
At first sight, Braithwaite’s shimmering black-and-white artworks with sharp edges created with a scalpel look like digital drawings; the intriguing geometric abstract patterns appear to be fragments of figures or landscapes. But a closer look reveals that they are oil paintings on linen and the geometric forms that look like hills, valleys, cliffs, lips, heads, eyes and other motifs are actually portions of the logos of well-known brands.
The logos have been enlarged way beyond the size we are used to seeing on products, in media advertisements or on our gadget screens, so that the portions of the curves, lines and spaces in the letters that are visible seem to form new yet vaguely familiar patterns.
The titles of the paintings provide clues to the inspirations behind them, such as “Hard-edged geometric abstract from the lips of the Ee of Twitter”, or “from the foot of the Adidas logo”, “from the armpit of the Snapchat logo” and “from the space between the Tee and the Eye of Tide”.
The title of the show itself is taken from the lyrics of “Blood on the Motorway”, a composition by DJ Shadow. “This tune is a combination of technology and spiritual sounds with religious overtones that gives you a sense of the cosmos that is outside the present modernity. Similarly my paintings look at the mismatch between our digital lives and everything else that is outside of it, and how we navigate between our virtual and physical worlds,” the artist says.
In a departure from his earlier sculptural work, the artist has chosen a minimalist approach in this body of work. “I wanted to reduce my process down to the bare minimum of form and shape to home in on ideas of a partial viewpoint and the strangeness of looking at a form that seems a pure shape, yet brings in some found material in your world view. I focused on the most pure and simple elements within these familiar logos and blew them up in size to give viewers the feeling of inhabiting an architectural environment.
“Today a lot of our life is viewed through the small screen of our phones and we are used to seeing these logos as much smaller than us, yet they have this large presence in our mind. So although it is a bit bewildering to see these oversize, decontextualised fragments, there is also the excitement of looking afresh at something familiar and the liberation of thinking outside of the message the brand tries to imprint on the mind. It is like a game of seeing how far you can move away to be free and how far you are pulled back towards the familiar,” he says.
To ensure that his work has universal resonance, Braithwaite has chosen logos of brands and products that are widely accessible, such as Coca Cola, Twitter, CNN, MTV, Al Jazeera and Marlboro. He has also included religious references and symbols of public utilities such as the Autobahn.
“The work juxtaposes the ideals of pure abstraction and a cosmic viewpoint with the consumerism and power struggles of modern life, where identities are defined by the brands you use or aspire to, the 24/7 media channels you subscribe to and the ideologies you relate to,” he says.
Explaining his monochromatic palette, Braithwaite says, “Although colours are an important element of a brand’s identity, I liked the idea of the cosmic relationship between white, which contains every colour in the spectrum, and black, which represents the complete absence of light.
“It is a dramatic mismatch of everything and nothing, and reflects the dualities of the digital and real worlds, fragment and whole, familiar and new, myth and truth, knowledge and ignorance of the technologies we use daily and our relationship with brands that these paintings deal with.”
Jyoti Kalsi is an arts-enthusiast based in Dubai.
“Breathe In The Healing Love of the Universe, I Am With You” will run at XVA gallery until December 9.
An Egyptian kaleidoscope
Well-known French photographer Denis Dailleux has been in love with Egypt since he first visited Cairo more than 15 years ago. Since then he has returned many times to the country to do professional assignments and personal projects. The artist is sharing the photographs he has taken during his numerous visits in an exhibition titled “Egypt: A Spirit Within”.
Unlike clichéd touristic photographs, Dailleux’s photographs capture the bright colours of Egypt and the drama of simple moments in everyday life, offering the unique perspective of a foreigner who knows the city intimately and appreciates its nuances. His portraits of people and images taken on the streets of Cairo convey the ambience of Egyptian homes, roadside shisha cafés, and of life in the slums and document fast disappearing elements of the local culture such as belly dancing and the traditional bands at Egyptian weddings. Also included are pictures of rural life in Egypt.
“In the early years I had to save for a year to buy a ticket for Egypt, and waited eagerly to fly there. My photographs from that time express how much I missed the place. This show is a tribute to the warmth, generosity and hospitality of the Egyptian people and their amazing spirit,” Dailleux says.
The show also features photographs from the “Mother & Son” series, for which Dailleux won a prize in the 2014 World Press Photo Awards. For this project he asked young Egyptian men who were interested in body building to pose for photographs with their mothers. The result is tender portraits of bare-chested muscular men besides their delicate, wrinkled, modestly dressed mothers, posing proudly for the camera.
“Egypt: A Spirit Within” will run at Gulf Photo Plus until December 31.
