Past events

Photography, Solo Exhibition: 18 September - 18 October 2016

Born in Brussel, Pia Torelli is French-American award-winning professional photo journalist based in Dubai. She is graduate of the San Francisco Academy of Art University.

Pia is also a globe trotter photographer travelling all around the word. She discovered and fell in love with Afghanistan at the end of the 70’s.The country was marvelous and peaceful with amazing landscape and great people. A small paradise, “a little Paris”

In 2002 and 2013 she came back to Kabul. Twenty-three years of war and five years of drought have created a city of ruin. Sad, Angry and disappointed was the feeling.

[ Walks Alone in Afghanistan ] is a testimony of women which refuse to give up a people and a country to the stupidity of the human. Two times she travelled in the country, outside the box, alone with her camera, her eyes and her soul. Like her let the Afghanistan captured your heart.

'Face to Face' is a group show exhibition showing five international artists artwork: Fred Kleinberg, Philippe Pasqua, Pierre-Marie Lejeune, Katia Traboulsi, Arnaud Rivieren and Anno.

With this exhibition, the gallery offers a particular vision on a series of paintings and objects where visitor's eye is captured at two levels. First, an approach with a humanistic interrogative perception portraits serie realized by artists of a sudden sensitivity. These looks are an invitation to personal reflection, sometimes disturbing for the visitor, in a pure aesthetic, light but strong. The integration of objects in the exhibition fosters a kind of culmination of this interrogative mind towards a more collaborative approach with a desire to exchange and friendly reunions. The work mirror allows the visitor to make him even part of this series of portraits as a kind of initiatory journey on the inside of either-even.
Galleries night event in Alserkal Avenue is the launch of the 2016 Dubai Art week.

Exhibition runs from 15 March to 14 May 2016

17 Nov - 10 Jan 2016

Both designer, interior designer, carpenter, glass designer, ceramist and decorator, Olivier Gagnère draws the living area of his inspiration from the know-how and the secrets of the most skilled master craftsmen in the world of Murano, through Quimper Limoges. With intensity, sophistication and freedom, he created 30 years for the largest publishing houses; his creations appear today in the largest international museum collections.

In partnership with famous Galerie Maeght - Paris, La Galerie Nationale - Dubai exhibits for the first time in Middle East a collection of 80 pieces and 11 paintings-collages performed by the artist and linked with the pieces showcased.

Born in 1952, Olivier Gagnère turns to the Decorative Arts after studying law: in 1981 he collaborates with Ettore Sottsass and the Memphis group in Italy.

Today, his work is present in important national and international collections and has been the subject of presentations in major museums around the world: in Paris (Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Pompidou Center, National Fund of Contemporary Art ), New York (MOMA, Museum of Arts and Design), Vallauris or Riom, Bordeaux (Museum of Decorative Arts), Venice, Izmir, Tokyo, Modern Art Museum of San Francisco, at the Indianapolis Design Museum, to modern art museums in Beijing and Shanghai. Glassware, furniture, lighting, tableware and decorative arts, Olivier Gagnère (named "Designer of the Year 1998" by the Salon Maison et objects) creates since 30 years for larger homes combining tradition and art of living: tiles Quimper, Bernardaud porcelain, glassworks St. Louis, Baccarat, Nontron, Laguiole, Guy Degrenne but Delepine (faucets and bathtubs) ...

In April 2014, the Milan Furniture Fair presented a collection of furniture designed by Olivier Gagnère and Bruno Moinard  and conducted by the Milanese cabinetmaker Romeo Sozzi for Promemoria a series combining wood, braided leather and rattan to be presented in the autumn in France. Interior designer, decorator, he was entrusted with the decoration of the Café Marly at the Louvre Museum in Paris in 1994, redeveloping part of the cabaret Le Lido, signs the decor of the restaurant Pierre Gagnaire in Seoul as Hotel Marignan Champs -Elysées in Paris. New edition 2015: the Monograph Publishing Norma, led by Michèle Champenois. 2015: Major exhibition at Magnelli Museum, the Ceramics Museum of Vallauris.

Olivier Gagnère I Designer

Exhibition : 17 Nov ’15 - 10 Jan ‘16

La Galerie Nationale is pleased to showcase the first solo exhibition titled “Black Light Soul” of the Belgian artist Anno.

“Adding a string to ones bow” for one’s professional career is usually synonymous with knowledge from the field. In the case of Anno, born in the City of Luxemburg in1977, adding artist to his interior designer experience is a rather natural acquirement.

Today, although she works with passion and rigor, both travel and time gave her the confidence to unveil her work to everyone. Recent or not, they reflect an inner journey that will appear, in September, at La Galerie Nationale in Dubai. The series of photographs and the video that will be on display perfectly express Anno’s desire to move forward on a new path as well as the complexity of engaging in a direction whose challenges we do not yet completely perceive.

Reserved by nature, she has, for too long, preserved her creative secret garden from outside viewers. Her trained eye has ushered in daily objects with which she offers to share her life. They are doomed to having a discreet presence, which ultimately leads to a renaissance due to an artistic gesture. As such, this set of stalagmites partly coated with a thick medium generating a strong contrast with the simplicity, fragility and transparency of origins.

All of her work is based on personal aesthetics and a taste for balanced or minimal proportions. The beauty that surrounds her guides her for days. It all evens out through intense color, black or blue, which she regards as an inspiring muse and elegant. But like the Yin and Yang, the white is never far away, like an echo to her own duality.

A 2001 graduate of CAD in Brussels, Anno joined the outset of internationally renowned design offices. Living in New York allowed her to forge her identity without turning away from her roots and from Belgian Culture (art, music, fashion). Her open mind quickly understood the canons of the tradition by giving free rein to her imagination: an art without censorship or restraint, just personal vision that ignores the past. Her art must be combined with this before giving her a future.

Anno alternates working sculpture and painting as two distinct languages that express her true nature. The specificity of trinkets and other memorabilia disappears. On them, color casts a unifying veil. Conversely, the mesh metal, used here as a reference to architecture, still lets show through the light like a window into another dimension. The balance between respect / support is integral to the original design.

She creates works in both senses in which the sensible skirts the rigor and precision. This spirit comes from the profession for which one must take into account external desires and other requirements it manages carefully. In art, she controls nothing but lets herself be guided limitlessly by her instincts.  

This first exhibition in La Galerie Nationale can be seen not as a beginning, but as the culmination of ten years of intimate creation that will be revealed at this opening. This production placed in center stage is a challenge Anno now feels ready to take on. Witnessing the first steps of this artist who is finally shedding her reservations promises to be an emotional event.

Exhibition is hold from 15 September to 7 November 2015

May - July 2015 - La Galerie Nationale is pleased to present the second UAE solo exhibition for Beirut born photographer Christian Ghammachi, titled MZUNGU, The Aimless Wanderer, running from 18 May 2015.

25 new pieces, the majority of which have not been shown to date, were captured during the artist’s captivating solo motorbike journey across Africa, from Cape Town to Djibouti in 2014. The quest was titled Two Wheels Across, and lasted six months, taking Ghammachi through sixteen African countries and over 19,000 kilometers. The images depict people, places and objects encountered along the way, as he set out to demonstrate that beauty and powerful emotions can be found in the most unassuming of places.

Ghammachi’s passion for photography spans over two decades, and has led him around the world, resulting in commercial and critical success and representation in both London and Paris. Seeking out the less obvious and overlooked details, finding beauty in hidden elements and emotions, Christian is inspired by the resilience of people, landscapes and wildlife. He is particularly interested in making photographs that show strength and enduring passion despite adversity.

The artist’s passion is rooted in Africa, a continent he first visited in 2010 and immediately connected with. Having lived in Cape Town for nearly two years, Ghammachi decided to return to the Middle East and make Dubai his base. But the adventurer opted to make his journey the subject by traveling to his destination alone on his motorbike. A first attempt was aborted following a painful crash, but the second effort, a few months later, was successful and is depicted in this, his second solo show.

Mzungu is a Swahili word originally used around the African Great Lakes and was taken to mean someone who wanders aimlessly or is constantly on the move. Nowadays it is commonly used to refer to a white person or a foreigner. Often called Mzungu during his journey, the word has now become an intimate part of Ghammachi’s epic journey and echoes his love for, and identification with, the African people, who welcomed him as he explored Africa. At La Galerie Nationale, the exhibition will include a selection of images, such as an abandoned hotel in Xai Xai, Mozambique, or 19^th century church in Tanzania, as well as images of Africa’s people and resilience.

17 march - 27 april

La Galerie Nationale is pleased to announce its upcoming group show, to coincide with Art Week 2015. Entitled, ‘Art Pulse’, the show will feature both design objects and works on canvas from a selection of globally renowned artists including Ron Arad, Damien Hirst, Jean Prouve and Andy Warhol. As such, the group exhibition represents an exceptional opportunity to view and acquire works from designers and artists who are widely regarded as amongst the most important from the last century during what is fast becoming one of the world’s most exciting international Art events.

La Galerie National enjoys a status as an innovative space within the UAE that uses curatorial eye to deliberately push the status quo in the regional market. As such, Art Pulse’s guiding vision has been to emphasize and celebrate Dubai’s increasingly enhanced status on the international art circuit, as it moves beyond stereotyped themes and expectations. Deliberately international in content, Art Pulse presents a global perspective in a local context, challenging the viewer eyond accepted norms of a Dubai production.

The exhibition narrative plays closely into the journey Dubai has taken over the past decade, as it has carved out a niche as both a platform for Middle Eastern art, and increasingly, a meeting place between East and West for international collectors. Highlights include ‘Skull on Spin’; an oil on paper Diptych by Damien Hirst, ‘lobster’ print by Andy Warhol, a ‘Big Easy’ thermo form armchair by Ron Arad or a very rare set of six chairs by Jean Prouvé.

La Galerie Nationale is pleased to announce the “unreasonable! Objects of Desire” upcoming exhibition.

Exhibition runs from 13 January to 1^st of March 2015

After a second semester focused on contemporary sculpture and ME located artists, La Galerie Nationale Dubai come back in January 2015 to Art furniture with an international designer’s group exhibition: Tom Price (GB), Luca Vinciguerra (Italy), Aldo Cibic (Italy), Jens Praet ( Belgium), Michael Wolfson (USA) and Tejo Remy ( Nederland).

This generation of experienced designers, is as the future of big name design now and tomorrow. Each of their creation is an aesthetic and technical writing in unexpected materials. The exhibition selected their last most emblematic items created.

These artists have challenged, transgressed, and perpetually renewed the reasonable theme, engaging it as an exemplary and even paradigmatic vehicle for the recasting, but also the subversion, of earlier traditions, that definitely unreasonable but desirable. Their common characteristic is fully passionate…with minimum of rules. Unreasonable means these objects do not follow the contemporary standard of design and will become certainly leader of the new iconic design.  

Internationally renowned, this is the first time ever that all these artists will be showcase together in a gallery. La Galerie Nationale is very proud to offer to Dubai and UAE this world premiere.

Arnaud Rivieren transforms stainless steel beams and heavy machinery into forms that defy their material rigidity and industrial origins. Using cast-off material sourced from Jebel Ali, Rivieren’s sculptures are created in a ‘moment of inertia’: he heats steel until it begins to bend rotationally under its own weight, and thereby creates smooth, circular beams – without beginning or end – and free-balancing curves.

Rivieren creates a quiet rapport between fluidity and formal rigour. Simultaneously, the works operate on a second, spatial ‘moment of inertia’. As the viewer walks around these sculptures, curved steel beams align and interact – creating wave-like shapes, interrupted circles and visual puns when viewed from different angles. Meanwhile, counter-balanced tensions hold these works together, and there is a fundamental contradiction between this tenuous balance and the factory or foundry atmosphere that the materials of the works emerged from.

In this way, Rivieren creates dynamic oppositions in his work – between manmade and primitive, momentum and inertia. With reference to the severed curves of Bernar Venet and Marino di Teana’s architectural sensibility, each of these six sculptures hinge on the artist’s passion for steel and his desire to turn the raw elements of industry, which surround him in his dayjob in Dubai, into forms that can contradict their own perceived fixedness.

Rivieren has had solo exhibitions at B21 Gallery (2006 and 2008), Dubai; Gallery Leila Heller in New York (2009) and LKFF, Brussels, in 2011. In 2012, his installation ‘Paper Plane’ was presented in the heart of Brussels and at Parc Egmont as part of Art Brussels’s Art in the City programme. His works were exhibited in the Belgian Pavilion during Shanghai World Expo 2010 and he has participated in the first two editions of Bastakiya Art fair. Moment of Inertia is Rivieren’s second solo exhibition at La Galerie Nationale.

Preview: Sunday 2 November from 7 to 10 pm

The exhibition runs from 3 November, 2014 until 4 January, 2015

Leading design gallery will show a curated selection of rare 20th century vintage design paired with contemporary pieces.

La Galerie Nationale confirms its return to Design Days Dubai for the second time, taking place 18 – 21 March 2013.  On what will be the largest booth in the Fair, the gallery will curate a mixture of both 20th century design pieces by acclaimed designers such as Jean Royère, Olivier Gagnière, Marco Zanuso, Geoffrey Harcourt, Willy Rizzo , matched with exciting international contemporary designers.  Thus past and present will be fused together to show the commonality and timeless nature of successful design.

La Galerie Nationale will primarily focus on bringing a selection of finest vintage 20th century objects to the UAE market.  Such pieces, although limited in numbers, are painstakingly sourced and, when necessary, restored so that each piece will embody the vision of the designer & the spirit of life during this period.

For 2013 we taken a decision to promote 20th century design alongside contemporary works to underscore the link between past and present and respond to the evolving tastes of the marketplace. Central to the new designers will be Helidon Xhixha, best known for his style of experimenting with Murano glass and stainless steel. Xhixha concentrates on capturing the light by folding and turning the steel inside out so that the very form of the sculpture becomes of secondary importance. At Design Days he will reveal a selection of new pieces to reflect his ideology of creating external environments, colours and brightness.

Additionally, La Galerie Nationale will exhibit works by acclaimed Iraqi artist Sarmad Al-Mussawi, talented Lebanese architect Fadi Sarieddine, new emerging designer Philippe Bresson whose four distinctive and exclusive designs represent his Middle Eastern debut and Arnaud Rivieren sculptor and now designer.

Since opening the gallery , we have cemented our position amongst art collectors, connoisseurs & enthusiasts and has grown to be considered as the authority of genuine design in the Middle East. Our decision to showcase a broad variety of works highlights the gallery's maturing presence in the Middle East, and offers an opportunity to set the stage for the latest design trends and vintage offerings.

Design Days Dubai is a component of Art Week, the Middle East's largest and most diverse cultural event annually, which is set to welcome thousands of residents and visitors in March 2013.

The Bauhaus School | Exhibition | Jan–Feb 2013

La Galerie Nationale is very pleased to invite you to the exhibition "When Photography became an Art" by the Bauhaus School the most influential schools of design, architecture and Arts of the XXth century.

The gallery showcase a set of photography from 1924 to 1932, by 9 different artists, and known as the first Art pictures in the History of the photography.

Staatliches Bauhaus, commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term.

The Bauhaus school was founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar. In spite of its name, and the fact that its founder was an architect, the Bauhaus did not have an architecture department during the first years of its existence. Nonetheless it was founded with the idea of creating a 'total' work of art in which all arts, including architecture would eventually be brought together. The Bauhaus style became one of the most influential currents in Modernist architecture and modern design and photography. The Bauhaus had a profound influence upon subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography.

The school existed in three German cities (Weimar from 1919 to 1925, Dessau from 1925 to 1932 and Berlin from 1932 to 1933), under three different architect-directors: Walter Gropius from 1919 to 1928, Hannes Meyer from 1928 to 1930 and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe from 1930 until 1933, when the school was closed by its own leadership under pressure from the Nazi regime.

The Bauhaus School | Exhibition | Jan–Feb 2013

La Galerie Nationale is very pleased to invite you to the exhibition "When Photography became an Art" by the Bauhaus School the most influential schools of design, architecture and Arts of the XXth century.

The gallery showcase a set of photography from 1924 to 1932, by 9 different artists, and known as the first Art pictures in the History of the photography.

Staatliches Bauhaus, commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term.

The Bauhaus school was founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar. In spite of its name, and the fact that its founder was an architect, the Bauhaus did not have an architecture department during the first years of its existence. Nonetheless it was founded with the idea of creating a 'total' work of art in which all arts, including architecture would eventually be brought together. The Bauhaus style became one of the most influential currents in Modernist architecture and modern design and photography. The Bauhaus had a profound influence upon subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography.

The school existed in three German cities (Weimar from 1919 to 1925, Dessau from 1925 to 1932 and Berlin from 1932 to 1933), under three different architect-directors: Walter Gropius from 1919 to 1928, Hannes Meyer from 1928 to 1930 and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe from 1930 until 1933, when the school was closed by its own leadership under pressure from the Nazi regime.

Dear Art Lovers,

As a longstanding specialist in design and art, La Galerie Nationale offers collectors, connoisseurs and lovers of art, a rare opportunity to acquire objects and works of ancient and historical wonders of Asian and Islamic Art and allows you to discover the wealth of artistic achievements of this fabulous region.

These delicate and fine artworks emphasize and highlight the expertise and workmanship of artists of these eras as well as the breadth of this unrivaled heritage.

The various materials used in the pieces displayed span from glass, silver, gold, bronze, paper, silk, canvas each one a grand and elegant representation of the workmanship of the time.

This will allow you to admire the techniques applied in weaving or drawing, carving or engraving.

The elegance of the scripts and imposing shapes should allow the viewers to explore the development of the rich heritage of the Middle Eastern culture, notably Persian, Arabic, Koranic or Indian.

La Galleries Nationale | Dubai today is very proud to showcase and offer for the first time, an exclusive, unique and exceptional part of the Alireza Atighetchi's collection.

See the catalogue Download the catalogue 9 Mo

Designers from two contrasting eras offer an exploration of legacy, beauty, inspiration and the commonality of timeless design.

La Galerie Nationale is pleased to welcome "Art Generation", a joint exhibition by Piero Alessandrini and Arnaud Rivieren. The central focus of the show will be to contrast and draw parallels between the two artists, whose body of work is informed by different eras; Alessandrini is a world-renowned architect and furniture designer who first gained recognition in the sixties, whilst Rivieren has forged a career in the current day.  "Art Generation" will present and explore areas of commonality between the two designers, with the objective of offering a powerful statement of the beauty and enduring legacy of timeless design - past and future.   

The exhibition opening will be marked by the first in a monthly series of talks titled "Design Stories", organized by Design Days Dubai.  Piero Alessandrini will lead the discussion, joined by Guillaume Cuiry, Director of La Galerie Nationale and Chiara Alessandrini.  Chaired by design and art writer Sandra Lane, the discussion will touch upon Alessandrini's work and his philosophy, with specific reference to the items on show within the "Art Generation" exhibition.

Piero Alessandrini is one of Italy's foremost architects and designers, whose former career as renowned architect clearly informs his furniture designs today. He graduated from the University of Rome's architecture school in Valle Giulia, having studied under Pier Luigi Nervi, and subsequently carved out a successful career, working on the design of a number of prestigious private homes including Villa Spalletti Trivelli, the Agnelli's home in Forte deo Marmi and the villa for the Sultan of Brunei. Important public projects include the Italian Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the "Scuola Superiore dell'amministrazione dell'Interno" (Interior Ministry Academy) in Rome.

Since 2007, Piero Alessandrini has worked on innovative designs for small dwellings and common spaces for residential projects. "Art Generation" will present works from his latest collection of furniture, entitled "Colourless", that focuses on methacrylate, a material that sits beautifully with any architectural style. The material can be moulded into the most diverse shapes, while its transparency gives a lightness of touch that allows the idea inspiring each table, chair or bookcase to shine through. Piero realize this hight quality collection with support and technical knowledge of Capenplastic s.r.l., master of refined Plexiglas furniture.

The ancient and delicate art of origami has been an influence on the "Colourless" collection. The artist explains that this technique, "marries past with present in a symbiotic relationship of tradition and future", and is reflected in the way the furniture is created to suit different spaces. Amongst other pieces, Alessandrini will present his latest addition to the collection; the transparent "Gold" lunch table, with a gold-leaf base, which has caught the eye of discerning international collectors and springs from the very same mix of tradition and modernity.

 

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By contrast, Arnaud Rivieren will present a collection of metal sculptures that reveals his discerning eye for harmony in natural forms and materials as well as his innate fascination with genesis and biological evolution. He references the evolution of life, from conception, to the hatching of an egg or birth of a child, to growth under maternal protection and parenthood. With his use of natural materials, predominantly scrap metals; Rivieren participates in an organic evolution of inanimate, but equally inherently valuable material.

A life-size stainless steel tree shelters the gallery space and Rivieren's smaller works. Its branches appear to playfully intertwine and spread, and yet its material is impenetrable and cold. Just as birds build their nests in trees seeking protection from the elements and other wildlife, and just as these eggs fall continuously from the branches to the ground like fruits and flowers, Rivieren's steel 'Egg' sculpture lies beneath the branches of his tree. In striking contrast to the graceful form and delicate nature of eggs, the artist's egg is not defeated but rather, monumental. Another egg is trapped in a resin incubation box, hovering on the gallery wall. This egg, typically out of scale, would be a sign of new life, except that its incubator leaves it no room to grow. Both the trapped resin egg and the fallen steel egg allude to a darker side to the creation of new life, when potential is thwarted.

A large spider, reminiscent of Louise Bourgeois, is similarly suggestive of maternity and protective instinct to the other works on display. Rivieren's art not only nods to the history of existence and the creation of life, but also to the history of art, as the spider exemplifies. Rivieren's latest work, a triptych of halved, exploded gas canisters that he found in a local scrap yard, is both a deeply feminine and violent work. It shows the remnants of a violent act, a spontaneous explosion, and echoes Courbet's painting 'The Origin of the World' in its suggestion of the origins of life. The triptych certainly belongs with the other works on display, highlighting the artist's ability to distort nature while magnifying its, at times defenseless, beauty.

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Design Days Dubai “Design Stories” with Piero Alessandrini
Monday 10 September, from 6pm

About La Galerie Nationale With an already well established reputation amid art collectors in France La Galerie Nationale extended its footprint to the Middle East through the opening its first international representative gallery in Dubai, April 2012. A new gallery concept for the GCC, La Galerie Nationale represents a collection of Galleries located in Europe, which specializes in original design art pieces created in the 20th century, by celebrated designers such as Mathieu Mategot, Jean Royère, Raymond Loewy, Willy Rizzo, Joe Colombo & more. A prolific era in itself the post-war years marked the birth of mass production alongside the exploration of materials, rethinking the use of living spaces and the experimentation of design styles – giving way to design pieces that were both aesthetically appealing and functional. It is this that makes art furniture & interior design elements from this period so special. La Galerie Nationale's exclusive collection is homage to the concept of furniture as art. Limited in numbers and painstakingly sourced and, when necessary, restored by the gallery's founder each piece embodies the vision of the designer & the spirit of life during this period.

About Alserkal Avenue Since 2007 Dubai has witnessed an organic growth of Alserkal Avenue, which today  houses 20 arts spaces within one block radius, situated in Al Quoz, the industrial area of Dubai. It has become the only authentic arts district in the region, known as a go-to place for art exhibition openings, young collectors auctions, seminars and community events. For more information please contact: Vilma Jurkute at vilma@alserkalavenue.com or +971 55 289 7825 www.alserkalavenue.com

About Design Days Dubai Design Days Dubai is the first of its kind design fair in the Middle East, bringing the most exclusive selection of limited edition design to the region. A showcase of rare or unique furniture, objects or design works, the second edition of Design Days Dubai will be held from March 18 to 21, 2013, to coincide with Art Week, the city's premier art event. Design Days Dubai will be hosted at its dedicated premises in Downtown Dubai. For more information please contact: Cyril Zammit, Fair Director, +971.4.384.2000 or info@designdaysdubai.ae www.designdaysdubai.ae www.designdaysdubai.ae/blogs