With Love, From Nowhere | ONLINE EXHIBITION

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Exhibition Dates: 10 December - 31 December 2020

 

 

VIEW EXHIBITION ONLINE

 

Curator: Mishelle Brito

Artists: Ellie Niblock & Alaa Tarazbouni

 

 

With Love, From Nowhere: The Places of Not Yet is a digital experience and collaboration between the artists in the cities of London and Riyadh. The exhibition collectively explores the environment both digital and physical through the lens of sculpture and architecture. Through meticulous documentation by means of drawing, sculpting, 3D scanning, mapping and audio recording the exhibition aims to offer the viewer with as much information as possible in order to discern these ‘Places of the Not Yet’. 

 

Inspired by utopic placemaking theory and the novel Invisible Cities by Italian writer Italo Calvino, the artists explore notions of the sublime. The same way that utopias in architecture exist best as a theoretical practice, the ‘Places of the Not Yet’ are never fully manifested into tangible spaces. Rather they only ever exist through the viewer’s interpretations of the various forms of the facsimiles created by both artists as representations of their own interpretations. 

 

Together the artists utilised their multidisciplinary skills to create a digital experience that is accessible to an international audience, embodying online, collective work demonstrating alternative ways of collaboration, allowing them to transcend borders both physically and metaphorically. 

 

The work was originally created for London-based The Arab British Centre’s:  Making Marks  programme and supported by the British Council. Making Marks is a strand of programming by London-based charity the  Arab British Centre, in partnership with the British Council, which focuses on the development of artists from the UK and the Arab World through international exchange programmes, commissions, and opportunities for artistic collaboration. Making Marks considers the positive impact of international working and exchange, and how it can shape artists and their work. The programme actively challenges stereotypes of our respective cultures and highlights the similarities, differences, and universal challenges facing emerging creatives the world over. 

 

For more information, please visit: www.makingmarks.uk

 

About the Artists: 

Ellie Niblock is a Northern Irish artist living and working in London and has an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins. She has participated in both solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including working with venues such as Tate and Baltic. She was the first artist from Northern Ireland to be awarded an art residency to India in 2016, by The Arts Council of Northern Ireland and British Council. She has sold work to The Arts Council of Northern Ireland for their permanent collection. Ellie has been awarded a residency at Yorkshire Sculpture Park which will take place in 2021.

 

Alaa Tarazbouni is a Saudi artist who lives and works in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Traditionally trained as an architect, with both a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in architecture from Newcastle University in England and Pratt Institute in New York respectively. Alaa considers context as her medium and it is consistently apparent in her practice; her most recent work Bait Al Wurud, was showcased at Durational Portrait at Athr Gallery in Jeddah and The Quest for Our Next Concern in Riyadh, and was a meditation on longing manifested in the recontextualization of architectural elements to the gallery space.

 

About React

reACT is an innovative program, established by P21 Gallery & Amal (a Saïd Foundation programme) to promote and support emerging and student artists whose work is dedicated to or inspired by the Middle East & Arab world by providing a space within the P21 Gallery for an artistic intervention. reACT aims to contribute in building and strengthening cultural ties and dialogues between the East and West on terms designed by a younger generation.

 

Curator

Mishelle Brito is a  London based artistic programmer and curator working to create dialogues relating to societal concerns in the Middle East through art, culture and creative based methods.

 

P21 Gallery

P21 is an independent London-based charitable trust established to promote contemporary Middle Eastern and Arab art and culture.  

 

Press information

For further information, press images and interview opportunities, please contact reACT Programme Manager & Curator, Mishelle Brito at: reACT@p21.org.uk

 

 



The exhibition is supported by the Art Council England and HUB Collective.