Ayman Zedani to open new Sharjah project space

Ayman Zedani's series 4, uses charcoal to represent human existence through hand-crafted wearable items. Image courtesy of the artist and Maraya Art Centre

A new project space offering opportunities for artists to gain direct feedback and develop and exhibit focused projects will open in Sharjah.

Maraya Art Centre will launch Maraya Project Space on August 26 in Souq Al Shanasiya in Sharjah with a project by Ayman Zedani, a Sharjah based artist. He is a multidisciplinary conceptual artist working with an advanced expressionist approach to produce increasingly minimalist work. He has a combined interested in experimenting with chemicals and conceptual art.

His project, 4, will be the inaugural exhibition at the project space. 4 is the outcome of a two-year experimentation in making a material as fragile as charcoal, turn solid and strong, challenging its own ephemerality. The installation is made of over sixty wearable pieces of hand-carved charcoal that are simultaneously delicate and durable.

Although aesthetically minimal, these pieces are drenched in metaphor. Charcoal is the material of existence. It is an amorphous form of carbon, which is the chemical basis of all life and the second most abundant element in the human body. Zedani has also connected each piece with a straight line and together they form a larger circle. This means that when each piece is purchased and worn, the pieces navigate through different lives, some potentially regularly connecting, others never to be reunited but all still part of a system.

Later in the same day, Project Space Art Jameel in Alserkal Avenue is hosting an open exhibition to view the results of a six-week experimental studio that has been going on all summer. Since the end of July, seven Campus Art Dubai members and alumni have been conducting workshops and practicing in the studio. The exhibition opens on August 26 and runs until September 6. 

• Maraya Project Space opens August 26 at 1pm.