Hassan Sharif: I Am The Single Work Artist
February 28 – July 19, 2020
KW Institute for Contemporary Art
Berlin, Germany
The institution's press release follows:
In spring 2020, KW will present the first major retrospective of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) artist Hassan Sharif in Europe. Sharif was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century from the Middle East. He is discussed as a leading force in the field of Conceptual Art, which rethought a conventional understanding of time, space, form, and social interactions.
Hassan Sharif, who studied at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London, returned to the UAE after graduating in 1984, began staging interventions and exhibitions of contemporary art in Sharjah for the first time and introduced a generation of artists to conceptual and Fluxus practices. Moving between roles as an artist, educator, critic, and writer, Sharif not only sought to encourage Emirati audiences to engage with contemporary art in exhibitions but also on the page, through his Arabic translations of historical art texts and manifestos.
This retrospective is the culmination of Sharif’s long history with the Emirate of Sharjah and is produced in close collaboration with Sharjah Art Foundation, where Sharif’s exhibition was originally displayed in 2018. The show at KW presents around 150 works that span sculptural installation, drawing, painting, and assemblage. Afterwards it will travel to the Malmö Konsthall (SE).