Dedicated to UAE-based artists and producing five innovative exhibitions per year, Aisha Alabbar Gallery has built a reputation for rigorous exhibition presentations and for collaborations with renowned curators and organisations, investing considerable resources in bringing the practices of artists in The UAE to the contemporary stage.

A commitment to education and community strengthens the gallery’s exhibition programme. Each show is accompanied by immersive activations, talks, and workshops with the purpose of engaging diverse audiences. The gallery seeks to contribute to a lasting, evolving UAE arts ecosystem through its exhibitions, accompanying programming and commissioned, in-depth publications.

QAF ‘23 Program

During the time of the Quoz Arts Fest, at the gallery we will be showing our first solo with long time UAE resident, Benedicte Gimonnet.

About the Artist

Bénédicte Gimonnet (b. Clermont-Ferrand, France, 1969) has lived, worked, and been part of the arts ecosystem in the UAE for over 13 years. Bénédicte's painting practice comprises a deliberate explosion of bold colours and technical innovation, mixing supposedly unmixable painting materials together, and creating immersive, intricate, and visually seductive environments. Through a recent exploration of personal issues with identity loss and recovery, the artist reconciled with her repressed Peruvian roots, creating new paintings that depict lush and exuberant rainforest environments whose extravagant vegetation acts as an allegory for the mind, mapping a journey of self-discovery and reconnecting with its roots. The strong colour palette references Peruvian folklore, while the compositions mimic the Amazonian rainforest that is deliberately not botanically, geographically, to seasonally correct to reflect the diversity of colourful experiences that shape one’s individuality and identity.

Workshop: Mimic the Master | 29 January - 11:00AM

This interactive drawing workshop offers participants a chance to carefully contemplate and respond to the artist’s work and to recreate it in the artist’s style.

The team will also conduct Guided Tours of the Exhibition every hour starting 11AM highlighting key concepts, techniques, and meanings behind the works.

The gallery will be open from 10AM to 6PM on Saturday, and 10AM to 3PM on Sunday.