Launch of Capsule Arts Dubai studio in Al Quoz

Dubai's newest art spot, the Capsule Arts studio/gallery in Al Quoz, launched last Thursday with an event that was appropriately decorated with the works of over 20 artists. The organization was founded almost a year ago, and deals in art prints and commissions.

The launch party was held in their new studio, a hangar-sized warehouse with a partial second level, located near Oasis Centre. So many attended, it might as well have been a post-summer arts community regroup event.

Noush like Sploosh (L) and Fathima Mohiuddin (R)

Arcadia Blank (L) and Lama Khatib Daniel (R)

Kate Toledo (L) and Jill Thomas Whatley (R)

Some of Dubai's most well-known contemporary artists were represented among the displays on the walls of the space that night, including a good number of pop pieces and drawings, and even one section of graffiti (via photography).

Talin Hazber and Alina Gallo thejamjar residency exhibition

During their residencies at thejamjar this summer, Talin Hazber and Alina Gallo have been producing art incorporating the local physical and cultural environment, and running workshops on working with their respective media. Today, the jamjar exhibited the fruits of the residencies, along with making-of videos and slideshows.

Gallo's murals were, unfortunately, not on display, but her very interesting miniature paintings of egg tempera on wood were. They included many details in local settings, seen from a cutaway bird's eye view that rendered elements from different locations in space and time visible in a single panoramic scene.

Given the sandy landscape of much of the UAE, this country would have been a vast, grainy buffet for Hazber acquiring the raw materials for her sand formation art. Some of the mystery of how these were made was lost in the sand formation workshop in which I participated, but seeing how those techniques are extended and applied by an experienced artist was still impressive.

My workshop piece was also on display with its bi-color altitude gradient intact (thankfully). Looks like the glue held up.