Saudi Gazette

On Monday evening, Jeddah’s creative communities came together for the unveiling of Athr’s ‘Through The Spectrum’ exhibition held in collaboration with Pace gallery.

“We had around 500 visitors and received a lot of positive feedback. People were able to experience and feel the artworks in a way they never experienced before,” Afia Bin Taleb co-curator of the exhibition told Saudi Gazette. ‘Through The Spectrum’ is a whole new dimension of wonder for visitors to explore. The interactive installations intertwine the illusion of light and space with human psychology and vulnerability of perception. Visually powerful and interactive media art helped support the multifarious artists- Ahmed Mater, Anne Senstad, carlos Cruz-Diez, James Turrell, Leo Villareal, Rober Irwin, Nasser Al Salem and Timo Nasseri. “Such well-established artists are showing their work for the first time in Saudi Arabia. The unique medium, light- helped create a unique experience for visitors. All pieces are unique in their own way. They all create a different emotional experience. The most challenging thing about the show is granting the commitment by these very established artists to partake in the show. It took years of building relations with the artists and their representing gallery to finally have their artworks exhibited in the gallery. Big names like James Turrell, Carlos Cruz-Diez and Robert Irwin schedule their shows years in advance, and they only show in major galleries and institutions. We have our friends from Pace gallery, Atelier Cruz-Diez and Anne Senstad to thank- for making this happen,” she exclaimed. The process in itself posed challenges for the curators Mohammed Hafiz, cofounder of Athr and Bin Taleb. “The second challenge was the making of the show. The exhibited artworks are extremely technical and require a lot of experience to produce and install. But thanks to the great team of Athr, Pace and Cruz-Diez, we were able to realize it in the highest level of standard,” she added. Saudi artist Nasser Al Salem presented abstract works alluding to Allah as the source of light. The beautiful metaphorical representations in which its letters are stripped down to basic geometric lines are the first iterations derived from an earlier work by the artist. “Working on an exhibition about light, I created an installation using the word Allah. God is light, [He is the first and the last]. The work breaks the notions of illusionary space, and goes beyond nature’s limits. It uses two mirrors, one on each side, to blur the boarders between the physical and visual realms, and create an imaginary, infinite world. This piece aims to apprehend the relativity of perception and the way we comprehend and interact with our surroundings. It questions the usual conceptions of existence in this world,” Nasser Al Salem said. Visit the exhibition and explore stirring works that manipulate the depths and limitations of light, space and perceptions.

Location: Serafi Megamall, Jeddah

Opening Hours During Ramadan: 10 am – 4 pm & 9:30 pm – 1 am

Closed Friday-Saturday

Instagram: @athrart