Supermarket

A great idea from Foundry Downtown – a group exhibition featuring artists based in the UAE who are not (currently) represented by galleries. The organisers describe it as “for the first time, a selling exhibition structured around accessibility, discovery, and dialogue. The project seeks to encourage a broader public to engage with contemporary art with greater confidence and curiosity, while offering artists an opportunity to present their work in a context that is both visible and commercially supportive …”

In that context, the title represents a quite deliberate borrowing from retail – though the curators are keen to emphasise that doesn’t mean crudely reducing art to merchandise rather than “critically asking what it means to ‘shop’ for art at a moment when value is shaped not only by artistic quality, but also by visibility, narrative, and systems of legitimacy”. Still, it is a selling exhibition, with works at “an accessible price point” …

As we went to press we hadn’t had confirmation of the artists included. We’re told that the exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of talks and guided tours in collaboration with Nadine Khoury.

To 7 June.