Scottsdale Art Week

De Musson presents a selection of Rashid Al Khalifa’s work at the Scottsdale Art Week, opening from the 19th – 22nd March in Arizona. The exhibition showcases a curated collection of works that highlight Rashid’s enduring exploration of surface, geometry, and light. Known for his innovative use of convex canvases and, more recently, parametric and relief structures, his work is deeply influenced by Bahrain’s architectural and environmental context while also engaging with global contemporary conversations.

Rashid Al Khalifa’s Spectrum series considers the ‘rules of repetition’ in Islamic Art, one of the most important aesthetic principles of Islamic architecture. The frequency and repetition of a shape in Islamic art, however complex, creates the illusion of infinity whereby the frame that holds the pattern is incidental: the symmetrical pattern continues beyond the bounds of the frame. Harmony arises from this state of infinitude. Spectrum takes such principles and contemporizes them by playing on structural attributes that are also reminiscent of contemporary Arab architecture, and incorporating colour and light that is characteristic to Bahrain’s landscape.

“As Spectrum transitions from one colour to another, their identity in turn, is altered. They are dependent on their placement within the surrounding environment, the emotional state of the viewer, and of course the mind of the artist, who purposely selects and combines colours.”