This British artist now calls the capital his home which can only mean great news for art lovers across the UAE.
Mark Dickens moved permanently to Abu Dhabi a mere six weeks ago, yet he is no stranger to the capital.
“It all started here,” says the British artist who revealed that he first visited Abu Dhabi in 2007 when a London art gallery, Waterhouse & Dodd brought his artwork to the Abu Dhabi Art Fair which at that time was hosted at Emirates Palace. The exhibition acted as a catalyst for Mark’s rise to acclaim in the UAE.
Today his artwork can be found in the royal collections of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. And it was around the time of the art fair that Mark approached Abu Dhabi Sports Management (ADSM).
“They [ADSM] were developing the new Yas Marina Circuit; I had an idea to pitch a proposal to commemorate the opening of the circuit in 2009,” says Mark.
The proposal was accepted. Mark created mixed media collages photographs, prints, gold leaf, fabric and added the unique touch of hand-written text. The ten panels, each dedicated to a team, include lines from Rudyard Kipling’s poem, If, both in Arabic and English.
“The art is in the offices of Yas Marina Circuit and when we came over for the opening, Bernie Ecclestone (the former chief executive of the Formula One Group) saw my work and commissioned me to become the official artist for Formula One,” he says.
With a BA in Fine Art from the Central School of Art and Design in London, not to mention a Post Grad Diploma from Il Bisonte International School of Advanced Printmaking in Florence, Italy, Mark was also an exchange student at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, in the United States.
“Being in America was great; it shaped my work. I was very much inspired by Robert Rauschenberg, who I had the chance to meet.”
American painter and graphic artist Robert Rauschenberg, whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement, is well known for Combines, a group of artworks which incorporated everyday objects as art materials and blurred the distinctions between painting and sculpture.
Back in the UAE, Mark has also worked on varied projects with Zayed University. One project saw him create a massive 200 metre print by inking Pirelli tyres. The work, which was done with 50 of the art and communication students, is still present in the university.
“I did a similar project in Italy whereby I got drivers to roll the tyres with ink on fabric to make a painting.”
Mark describes the technique as “very simple, which worked so well. It was inspired by Robert Rauschenberg who in 1950 inked up an old truck. It is a piece that has earned its place in the Museum of Modern Art.”
Always seeking new frontiers on his many travels, Mark now has his eyes set on his new project, ‘Conversation with Nature’.
“It’s been in my head for some time; I now want to realise it,” he says.
The project involves 30 canvases fixed to the ground, rooftops, reserves, mangroves and so on and left there for 30 days.
“In effect, nature starts the process of walking over the canvases, doing its thing. This will leave different effects on the surface and after 30 days, I will collect them and take them to my studio where I can create my own embellishments.
It’s truly a conversation with insects, animals, nature’s elements doing what they do best.
”Mark, quite rightly, describes it as “an interesting piece on its own”, and also plans to conduct talks and workshops on the project.
And with so many other artistic ideas up his sleeve, the Abu Dhabi art scene is set to take on new forms. Watch this space!
For more information about Mark and his incredible art, visit mark-dickens.com
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