Alia Zaal: In Plain Sight

Alia Zaal’s first exhibition with the gallery features new paintings – on canvas, paper, and ceramic tiles – depicting intimate fragments of landscapes loved by the artist. Highlighting details of familiar plants, trees, and flora from the scrublands and forest of Al Khawaneej in Dubai and the mangroves and mudflats of Abu Dhabi’s coastline, the works present a mediation on site-specificity and lived experiences rather than romantic scenes of territory; Zaal’s paintings escape traditional landscape portraiture, usually marked by elements such as a sweeping horizon line, a majestic sky or a tree or shrub rendered in its entirety.