The Third Line at Frieze New York 9 - 12 May, 2014 Booth D20 The Third Line is pleased to be returning to Frieze New York, exhibiting works by Amir

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The Third Line at Frieze New York

9 - 12 May, 2014
Booth D20

The Third Line is pleased to be returning to Frieze New York, exhibiting works by Amir H. Fallah, Hayv Kahraman, Hassan Hajjaj, Shirin Aliabadi, Slavs and Tatars, Tarek Al-Ghoussein and Youssef Nabil. The works are presented thematically around an alternative narrative of portraiture in contemporary art.

Shirin Aliabadi  City Girl 4  2010  Lambda print mounted on aluminum  100x66cm 650

Shirin Aliabadi, City Girl 4, 2010, Lambda print mounted on aluminum, 100 x 66 cm

Frieze New York, now in its third year, will include over 190 of the world’s leading galleries. The Third Line is presenting a selection of its artists that explore the multiple notions of portraiture – with works ranging in media across photography, painting, collage and sculpture.

In a time of vanity and self-absorption, the individual has become obsessed with their representation. With more than 130 million people using Instagram to show the public a curated view of their life – and other social media showing similar numbers and demography – it seems as if representation has been solely taken over by individual self-perceptions, shunning outside perspectives.

The booth displays a return to the notion of portraiture, though not entirely in the traditional sense either, which also prioritised the patron’s vision. The works selected look at representation and identification through the artists’ rendition – where the subject adds to the desired portrayal but does not dictate it; some take liberty with it to weave fictitious narrative around renowned personalities, while others illustrate social and cultural uniqueness.

With a pop-up studio that he erects on the streets of Morocco, London, Paris and Kuwait, Hassan Hajjaj creates a revival of African photography from the 60s and 70s, immortalizing his friends from around the world and transforming them into larger-than-life characters. Amir H. Fallah questions the tradition of classic portraiture and the influence of sitters, gaining greater control over the portrayal of his subjects’ identities. Youssef Nabil looks at modern day society’s fascination with celebrity culture and presents his account of the extraordinary characters of his models, artists, actors, singers and friends. Hayv Kahraman uses the female body as a subject, and herself as the model, displaying an on-going exploration in spatiality, hybridity, socially coded modes of thought and behaviour, and gender based issues found in diasporic cultures. Shirin Aliabadi presents a series of orchestrated studio shots of hip young Iranian girls posing with props, wearing colored contact lenses, platinum blond hair and vibrant chadors – aiming at capturing the aesthetic nuances that reshape and reinvent the identity of the new Iranian girl. Slavs and Tatars examine the role of oral identity, through features and physical organs associated with speech and communication. Tarek Al-Ghoussein, a Kuwaiti of Palestinian origin, deals with how his identity is shaped in a context of inaccessibility and loss and explores the boundaries between landscape photography, self-portraiture and performance art.

About The Third Line

The Third Line is a Dubai based art gallery that represents contemporary Middle Eastern artists locally, regionally and internationally. The Third Line also hosts non-profit, alternative programs to increase interest and dialogue in the region.

The Third Line also publishes books by associated artists from the region. Books published to date include Presence by photographer Lamya Gargash (2008), In Absentia by Tarek Al-Ghoussein (2009), Cosmic Geometry, an extensive monograph on Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, edited by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Karen Marta (2011), and most recently the self-titled treatise Huda Lutfi about the artist’s Cairo based practice.

Represented artists include: Abbas Akhavan, Ala Ebtekar, Amir H. Fallah, Arwa Abouon, Babak Golkar, Ebtisam Abdulaziz, Farhad Moshiri, Fouad Elkoury, Golnaz Fathi, Hassan Hajjaj, Hayv Kahraman, Huda Lutfi, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Laleh Khorramian, Lamya Gargash, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Pouran Jinchi, Rana Begum, Sahand Hesamiyan, Sara Naim, Sherin Guirguis, Shirin Aliabadi, Slavs and Tatars, Sophia Al-Maria, Tarek Al-Ghoussein, Youssef Nabil and Zineb Sedira.

Media Contact
Saira Ansari, PR & Media Manager
saira@thethirdline.com | +9714 3411 367

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