ABU DHABI ART 2025

In Broken Geometries, artists Christopher Joshua Benton, Latifa Saeed, Mamali Shafahi, Mano Penalva, Mounir Fatmi, Tamara Kalo, Rasheed Araeen, andVhils examine systems of form, language, and memory through the fragmentation of their internal logic. Working across generations and geographies,they engage in practices that dismantle inherited structures, from the grid ofmodernist abstraction to the rigidity of ideological narratives, reconfiguringthem as sites of multiplicity and rupture.

Presenting a series of carpets by American‑based artist in the Emirates, Christopher Joshua Benton (b. 1985, USA), whichcontinues the research begun in his installation Where Lies My Carpet is Thy Home,shown at the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial2024. Based on stories shared by carpetmerchants from Abu Dhabi’s souk, theseworks integrate visual elements of war rugsand traditional kilims, evoking a textile aesthetic between analog and digital. The series aligns with his solo exhibition currently on view at Baró Galeria in Abu Dhabi

Also based in the Emirates, Latifa Saeed(b. 1984, UAE) presents a large‑scale painting and a series of smaller works from thePortais series. Working with sand as bothmaterial and image, her works engage territory and transformation, exploring ephemeral gesture and local memory.

In counterpoint, Iranian artist Mamali Shafahi (b. 1982, Tehran) presents hismost recent work, developed in collaboration with Domenico Gütknecht. Combining sculpture, video and virtual reality, his work constructs hybrid figures that cross mythological and digital references, evoking sensory universes between tradition and speculative fiction.

Brazilian artist Mano Penalva (b. 1987, Salvador) presents works from the Bisel series,in which he uses popular materials such asplastic bags, textiles and display‑structures.The works begin from the idea of ‘bevelingcorners’—both formally and symbolically—and reflect on circulation of objects,adaptation and the language of improvisation.

Portuguese artist Vhils (b. 1987, Portugal)presents a work from his Portal / Doors seriesseries, which utilises assembled and laser‑engraved old wooden doors collectedin urban contexts—a body of work previously exhibited in Egypt as part of his research into thresholds, memory and urbanlayers.

Tamara Kalo (b. 1995, Libano) presentsCurrent Sea, a distortion of the current representation of Lebanese currency, rendered into fluid forms and colors. The work reflects on the unrecognizability of what thisimage once stood for, contrasting it with thelived reality of the skilled labor force whosevalue and agency remain persistently undervalued.

At the centre of the exhibition is the Around the Square series by Moroccan artist Mounir Fatmi (b. 1970, Tangier), composed of textile collages made entirely from fragments of Muslim prayer rugs. In each work sixty squares of 10 × 10 cm are arranged around a central 20 × 20 cm squaredepicting the Kaaba. A chromatic gradation guides the gaze in a circular movementevoking the pilgrimage around the sacredsquare and putting structure, spiritualityand repetition in tension.

Finally, Rasheed Araeen (b. 1935, Karachi),a reference in minimalism and post‑colonialthought, presents a vertical wooden sculpture from the Infinity series and a paintingfrom the Opus series. These works revisithis research begun in the 1960s on modular construction and the relations betweenform, scale and repetition.

Together, these artists operate in the space left after structure, where thegrid is broken, the motif unraveled, and the system laid bare. Broken Geometries invites us to inhabit that space of fracture as one of possibility: whereforms are not erased, but collectively reimagined.

Broken Geometries marks the debut collaboration between Baró Galeria andO-Contemporary at Abu Dhabi Art, and coincides with the recent opening of BaróGaleria’s permanent location in Abu Dhabi, inaugurated in February 2025—thefirst international gallery with a continuous physical presence in the city. This jointproject reflects the shared commitment to a thoughtful program that combineslongstanding collaborations with international artists alongside a focus on emerging talent from the MENA region.