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Background
The exhibition represents a continuation of an initiative launched back in 2008 that aims to promote Saudi artistic output. The Jeddah exhibition is the culmination of EoA’ s ambitious 2010-2011 world tour, taking its stable of talent to Istanbul, Berlin, Dubai and the Venice Biennale. EoA has produced heavyweight monographs in that time, and brought 10 young artists to Saudi on an educational expedition across the kingdom.
“ I think the exhibition in Jeddah is the end of a chapter, and it feels as if the original vision has been fulfilled,” says Stephen Stapleton, the initiative’ s founder to a UAE newspaper.“ We set out to create a bridge between Saudi artists and the art world. I think that this was done to some extent via this tour.”
Ahmed Mater, in particular, has watched grow demand for his work at an extraordinary pace since the group’ s first show in 2008. His 2010 piece, Evolution of Man, showing the metamorphosis of an electric blue symbol of a petrol pump into a human skeleton holding a loaded gun to its head, has become a grim but poignant ensign for Saudi art’ s international march. This new exhibition demonstrates a significant progression of his practice.
Concept & function
Artists captured the spirit of the exhibition, and in turn, afforded the audience an opportunity to engage in a didactic conversation about common conceptions of ideology, culture, religion and the �
DORCHESTER December 2012 103