Meem Gallery is pleased to announce their participation in the 2015 edition of Art Dubai Modern, alongside thirteen other galleries from the region. Art Dubai Modern is in its second year, an addition to the fair which began in 2014 alongside Art Dubai.
Meem Gallery will present a selection of key works by Iraqi modernist Dia al-Azzawi and Syrian master Marwan. Dia al-Azzawi is well known as a pioneer of modern Iraqi art and the works selected reflect a particular turning point in the artist’s oeuvre. Selecting unique works from the 1970s, the grouping will show the last works made by Azzawi in Iraq before his permanent move to the UK.
Marwan is renowned for his distinctive style and monumental paintings, utilising recurrent themes within his self-portraits, portraits, figures and silhouettes. We have chosen to select one monumental work from the mid 1970s, as well as a group of etchings from the Figuration series (1969 – 71) to stand with the Azzawi works of the same period.
Born in Baghdad in 1939, Azzawi’s art features in the collections of museums and institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Museum of Modern Art, Damascus; Museum of Modern Art, Tunis; Museum of Modern Art, Amman; Kinda Foundation, Saudi Arabia; Una Foundation, Casablanca; Arab Monetary Fund, Abu Dhabi; Development Fund, Kuwait; Jeddah International Airport; British Museum, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Tate Modern, London; Saudi Bank, London; United Bank of Kuwait, London; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; Bibliothéque Nationale de France, Paris; Colas Foundation, Paris; Harba Collection, Iraq and Italy; Gulbenkian Collection, Barcelona; Library of Congress, Washington, DC; and The World Bank, Washington, DC.
Marwan’s work can be found in over thirty-five international public collections including the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Berlinische Galerie, Berlin; Städel Museum, Frankfurt; Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden; National Museum, Damascus; Tate Modern, London; British Museum, London; Musée national d'art modern, Paris; and the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.