Hisham Sharif presents exhibition in Dubai about a breakup he experienced — The National

Bahraini artist Hisham Sharif has presented his first solo exhibition in the city, Allusive Veil, at Ayyam Gallery in Dubai, UAE. The exhibition includes works created after his wedding was called off in 2023, when his fiancée ended their relationship, The National reports.

The artist said that his previous, predominantly monochrome series ended with a wedding and dancing scene. After the breakup, he stopped painting for some time because he was helping his ill father, artist Abdul Rahim Sharif, recover. When his father recovered in the summer of 2023, Sharif returned to working on canvases.

Colour, mirrors and personal narratives

Allusive Veil became one of Sharif's first projects in which he works extensively with colour. A monochrome palette predominated in his earlier works. Some paintings depict women in interiors filled with fabrics and flowers; among them is Behind the Mirror, where the tension between the characters is underscored by a reflection in a mirror.

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The artist connects these images with his own experience of relationships, as well as with Persian miniatures and stories from Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. He rejects the notion that his canvases are an outsider's view of the Arab world, stressing his Bahraini background and Persian roots. According to Sharif, interior objects, carpets and other elements of the compositions are linked to the cultural environment in which he grew up.

Animal symbolism and the search for peace

Another part of the exhibition depicts leopards hunting gazelles. Sharif explained that he saw this motif in Persian miniature painting and deliberately did not define unambiguously which participant in the romantic relationship each animal represents.

The exhibition concludes with large canvases featuring gardens and plants, with almost no people or animals. The artist links them to his gradual recovery after the breakup, giving up alcohol and seeking stability in religion. One such work is titled Solitude. The Allusive Veil exhibition will run at Ayyam Gallery in Dubai until October 30.