Dubai: Art lovers in the UAE can now head to Hunar Gallery in Al Rashidiya to visit the latest exhibition under the theme ‘Images to the Gulf’.
The exhibition, which curates the works of British artist Christopher Southcombe, includes 41 oil and watercolour paintings of the region’s landscape, wildlife and heritage.
“I have been living in Arab countries for over 30 years and first fell in love with the desert in Libya in the late 1970s, early 1980s. Most of the pieces I paint are based on local, old heritage ideas, wildlife, and marine life,” said Southcombe.
Living in Sharjah for the last 20 years, the artist is well known for his desert landscapes and wildlife paintings, all realistically portrayed either on canvas or as large murals including those presented at the Fairmont Dubai Hotel.
“I spend hundreds of hours in research before I start an old historical painting. The time it takes to complete a painting depends entirely on the subject and the time spent in research. Some paintings can take a few hours, others can take months to complete,” said Southcombe.
Not having exhibited his works for more than a decade, almost half the paintings at the exhibition will be displayed for the first time, with the majority being done in oils, a few in watercolours, and one that highlights his knife work.
Southcombe, who has been painting in oils and other media for well over 50 years, was given his first set of oil paints for his 14th birthday. After earlier careers in the Royal Navy and then in oil exploration as a geophysicist, during which time he kept painting and receiving commissions for his marine paintings, he eventually turned to painting professionally in 1989.
Before coming to the Gulf Southcombe had exhibited at the Royal Society of Marine Artists in London and at the Mystic International Maritime Exhibition in Connecticut. After arriving in the UAE, he exhibited with the New Orientalists in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in 1997 as well as representing the UK in the Sharjah Biennial that year.
Over the last few years, all his work, paintings as well as large murals, have been commissioned for hotels, malls, companies and private clients and for the ruling families in the UAE and Oman.
His latest exhibition at the Hunar Gallery is open from 9am to 7pm from Saturday to Thursday until June 27.
