Past Residents
Past Resident2013: Al-Riwaq Art Space
Jaffar Al Oraibi
Jaffar Al Oraibi began drawing and painting early in life, first drawing portraits of friends and family members and then landscapes in Bahrain. His work has evolved toward the evolution of knowing the world of art and artists, through direct visits inside and outside Bahrain.
Jaffar Al Oraibi (born 1976) is one of Bahrain’s foremost emerging contemporary artists, with a Bachelor of Education from the University of Bahrain. His work has been exhibited widely, including solo exhibitions at Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, Dubai, and Al Riwaq Art Space, Bahrain. Group exhibitions include Morocco’s Asilah Festival, the China Art Olympiad Biennale, the 5th International Print Triennial in Egypt, and the Cité International des Arts in France. He has won numerous awards for his work, such as first prize at the Qatari Diar Art Symposium, special recognition at the 32nd Annual Plastic Arts exhibit at Bahrain’s National Museum, and the Silver Palm from the seven GCC art exhibitions, Kuwait. Al Oraibi was an artist-in-residence at Cité International des Arts and the Delfina Foundation in London.
Events & Exhibitions
Salon: Jaffar Al Oraibi, Waheeda Malullah and Mohamed Sharkawy
August 27, 2013
Jaffar Al Oraibi, Untitled, 2012, Oil, charcoal and oil bar on canvas, 5611/16 × 5811/16 in. (144.02 × 149.1 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Jaffar Al Oraibi, Untitled 0, 2012, Oil, charcoal and oil bar on canvas, 5611/16 × 5811/16 in. (144.02 × 149.1 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Jaffar Al Oraibi, Untitled 22, 2010, Oil, charcoal and spray paint on canvas, 353/8 × 275/8 in. (89.92 × 70.1 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Jaffar Al Oraibi, Untitled, 2010, Oil, charcoal and oil bar on canvas, 5811/16 × 753/16 in. (149.1 × 191.01 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Jaffar Al Oraibi, Untitled 3, 2010, Oil, charcoal, oil bar and spray paint on canvas, 5611/16 × 753/16 in. (144.02 × 191.01 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Residents from Bahrain
Past Resident2013: FONCA - Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes
Edgardo Aragón
Historical and personal memory are interconnected in the work of Edgardo Aragón, revisiting history through a series of remakes and bringing into the present situations and narratives from his family that relate to broader social, cultural and political issues – and those related to the context of Oaxaca, the state of his birth, and to the conditions of a country disrupted by drug trafficking. He generally uses video to tell or retell a story and bring it back into operation and circulation. Matamoros (2009) is a road movie recording the artist’s journey on Mexican roads from Oaxaca to the United States border, following the same route Pedro Vazquez took in the 1980s transporting drugs. In Efectos de familia [Family Effects] (2007/2009), members of Aragón’s family – cousins, nephews – “are forced to learn the family history, related to various forms of organised crime.” In these works, affective ties have replaced moral judgement through symbolic actions that allow the violence associated with the “narco” to be seen from another viewpoint different from the way it is portrayed in the media.
Edgardo Aragón (born 1985) received his B.A. in Fine Arts from the ENPEG la Esmetalda, Mexico City. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at institutions including the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporaneo (MUAC), Mexico City; MoMA P.S.1, New York; and the Luckman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. His work has also been included in group exhibitions including Resisting the Present, Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 2012;Disponible: A Kind of Mexican Show, San Francisco Art Institute, 2011; Historias Fugaces, Laboral Centro de Arte, Gijon, 2011; and El horizonte del topo, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 2010. His work was also included in the 3rd Moscow Biennial of Young Artists, the 12th Istanbul Biennial, and the 8th Mercosur Biennial. His films have been screened in film festivals in Werkletiz, Marseille, and Mexico City. He lives and works in Oaxaca.
Events & Exhibitions
Concrete Truth: Art and the Documentary
October 24, 2017–February 16, 2018
Edgardo Aragón, Light, 2012, Digital print. Courtesy of the artist.
Edgardo Aragón, Messages, Warming, (boat), Digital print. Courtesy of the artist.
Edgardo Aragón, Tinieblas, 2009, 13 channel video installation, loop, 7 min. Courtesy of the artist.
Edgardo Aragón, The Trap, 2011, 3 channel video installation, loop, 9 min. Courtesy of the artist.
Edgardo Aragón, La Encomienda, 2012, HD video, 4:45 min. Courtesy of the artist .
Past Resident2013: Canada Council for the Arts
Paul Dignan
The starting point for Paul Dignan’s recent paintings are squares aligned in an even grid. Within these squares there are individual compositions based on one original source drawing. These paintings challenge the viewers’ perception in that the apparent uniformity of the schemata gradually begins to dissolve over time allowing slight shifts to occur. The feeling of order is further disrupted by the placement of flat areas next to airbrushed areas that feign an illusion of depth. Within a limited and regular format the paintings offer endless shifting variations that initially engage the viewers eye before ultimately revealing a certain resistance to it.
Paul Dignan (born Dundee, Scotland) is based in Ontario, Canada. He has lived and worked there since leaving Scotland in 2003. He is a graduate of the Slade School of Fine Art, London and is a past recipient of The Rome Scholarship in Painting at The British School at Rome. He has received numerous awards from the Scottish Arts Council, The Ontario Arts Council and The Canada Council for the Arts. His work has been included in shows at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje; FYR Macedonia and The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. His work can be found in numerous collections, including The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, The Unilever Collection, London and The Canada Council for the Arts.
Paul Dignan, Cota 1, 2011, Acrylic on canvas, 48 × 48 in. (121.92 × 121.92 cm). Courtesy of the artist and The Canada Council for the Arts.
Paul Dignan, Beamish 2, 2012, Acrylic on canvas, 36 × 36 in. (91.44 × 91.44 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Paul Dignan, Beamish 2 (detail), 2012, Acrylic on canvas, 36 × 36 in. (91.44 × 91.44 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Paul Dignan, Corridor 2, 2013, Acrylic on canvas, 60 × 60 in. (152.4 × 152.4 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Paul Dignan, Corridor 3, 2013, Acrylic on canvas, 36 × 36 in. (91.44 × 91.44 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
