The NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery is set to launch its spring exhibition called “the only constant” in Abu Dhabi on February 22. The exhibition, which will run until June 4 from Tuesday through Sunday, 12-8pm, will feature artworks from various renowned artists including Tarek Al-Ghoussein, Patty Chang, Gil Heitor Cortesão, Sharon Lockhart, Taus Makhacheva, Haroon Mirza, Clifford Ross, Thomas Struth, and Vivek Vilasini.
Featuring 27 different works, the exhibition is curated by the Executive Director of The NYUAD Art Gallery and University Chief Curator, Maya Allison. This is part of Allison’s ongoing study of landscape in contemporary art. For the only constant, she explains: “The artists here confront contemporary landscape as a site of profound tension: we change the landscape, and it changes us. Even as we might long for an untouched paradise, humans build futuristic utopias. My concept for this exhibition grew out of Tarek Al-Ghoussein’s Al Sawaber series, through which runs a theme: utopia and paradise arrive, and then depart (change is the only constant). This tension is fundamental to questions we face as humans on this planet. Of course, those questions are part of the larger dialogue now underway in the UAE as we approach the COP28 convening this winter.”
The artists showcased in this exhibition use the landscape as a medium to enable a shift from passive observation to active witnessing. For instance, Vivek Vilasini’s works involve recording patterns of pollution on fragile rice paper. Similarly, Patty Chang washes an entire ship’s hull by hand to highlight the disappearance of the Aral Sea. Sharon Lockhart meticulously examines the intricacies of a dense landscape at night.
The exhibition begins with the idea of paradise (Thomas Struth), opposite the roiling power of an untamable sea (Clifford Ross). It begins and ends in technological aspiration, and the incomprehensible imprint of our existence on our planet. Taus Makhacheva asks “when is land an object to be owned or a territory to be marked?” Without humans to damage the landscape, abandoned luxury homes would have incredible views (Gil Heitor Cortesão). What if we were to surround the sun in solar panels, and block out the light? The exhibition ends with Haroon Mirza visualizing this question in a living garden, fed by light from those solar panels.