Night Glow

Waddington Custot Dubai is delighted to present a group exhibition of paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and textile works by the international artists Kenia Almaraz Murillo, Richard Höglund, Jedd Novatt, Jaume Plensa, Marc Quinn, Tomàs Saraceno, Bernar Venet and Fabienne Verdier.

Night Glow immerses the viewer in the blues of clear nights. Away from light pollution and the metropolis’ hustle-and-bustle, the night sky will turn a deep blue, punctuated and nuanced by the glow of stars. These nuances are apparent in the soft acrylic wash of Landon Metz’s works, punctuated by the glowing reflections of Tomàs Saraceno’s Cumulonimbus Capillatus/M+I (2018).

Bernar Venet’s 229.5 Arc x 10 overlooks the main gallery hall, the monumental scale of the Cor-ten steel sculpture is a signature of the French artist’s work. Drawing inspiration from a lifelong obsession with mathematics, these large-scale steel sculptures, characterized by their bold, sweeping curves, challenge perceptions of balance and form. Venet, a key figure in conceptual art, reduces lines to their purest state, creating dynamic compositions that interact with their surroundings. The Arcs embody both precision and spontaneity, reflecting his fascination with indeterminacy and geometry. Whether displayed in urban spaces or natural landscapes, they invite viewers to contemplate the intersection of art, science, and chaos.

French artist, Fabienne Verdier’s masterpiece of blue nuances Ascèse (2015) explores the relationship between negative and positive space. For the artist, the circle is the most elementary of forms and is used as a symbol to represent the center of the cosmos. While Verdier stands in the middle of the canvas with her brush, she uses herself as a sort of compass and with a 360-degree rotating movement, she sets the mark of the circle around herself into the space of her canvas.  

In one of her dreams, Kenia Almaraz Murillo finds herself in a sort of interior landscape of the North Pole, where she sees a splendid Oso Polar (2023), in a moment of softness and rest. This vision of tranquility contrasts with the next moment, where Kenia looks through a window and sees a dirty city full of garbage, as if she had seen behind a movie set. She retains from this dream a feeling of strangeness, as if she were living in an artificial world. The light in the weaving symbolizes the tender gaze of the bear, but it’s cold colors and futuristic appearance recall the world in which it lives.