In his most recent Dubai exhibit, painter Michael Calver says that "all art ? is an abstraction from, and a reflection of, lived experience". Viewers could be forgiven for not automatically making the connection between Calver's work and the realm of the living. They seem to be closer to experiments in colour than fugues on the human condition.
But Calver has a point: even works as minimal, graphic and geometric as Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie are made in response to life - and in Mondrian's case, to New York City's jazz clubs and their unique music. Like Mondrian, Calver uses artist's tape to create the thin lines on his canvases, but in contrast to the neoplasticist's limited palette, Calver uses backgrounds of saturated tone-on-tone colour.
It is all part of his lifelong interest in colour theory: how colours work with and against each other, how they create feeling and emotion for the viewer. In his show at the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre (DUCTAC), entitled All But Less Than, dense colour fields of sky blue, thick burgundy and tomato red are set against each other, square within square, and broken by strategically placed thin lines of contrasting hues within the frame.
The eye moves around the aqua flatness of a piece entitled Listening Blue, zigging and zagging back to the sides of the painting like a lie detector reacting to a tall tale on the paper below. Listening Blue's square of icy blue fizzes is marked out by tiny stripes of pale yellow, lavender, cerulean and bright orange at the edges of the painting.
Those who have studied colour will understand Calver's work right away; blue and orange vibrate when placed next to each other since they are complementary colours, as are violet and yellow - all of which are used in Listening Blue. This vibration is what interests Calver. "You put two colours together and they heighten each other," says the artist by telephone from his atelier in Devon, England. "Colour is such a complex, intense thing, you have to plan it in some way."
And Calver does plan. He approaches the shades he uses methodically and meticulously, scientifically examining the colour he has chosen as the main theme - its temperature, its emotional evocations, and the strength of the pigment. Then he tries out different strips of artist's tape on top of it as a test run.
He photographs his experiments to record which combinations he prefers, then, once this process has been completed, finally paints the actual stripes on the canvas. "I put the ground colour down first, then spend days, sometimes weeks, painting masking tape," he says. "Then I will correct it with a magnifying glass."
Calver does this to make sure there are no errant bits of paint to detract from the near-digital clarity of his work.
Though graphic designers will love the work for its clean, sparse and intellectual comment on colour, what is in it for the rest of the art-loving public? Most of the excitement in Calver's work comes from the buzzing effect of those complementary shades (the blue-orange, yellow-purple and red-green combinations mentioned earlier). Unfortunately, though, the sheer flatness of the work can be a little off-putting.
After a while, the similarity in construction and the apparent absence of the human hand in these paintings becomes tedious and unengaging. In fact, it often seems that these works could be machine-made, generated by a room full of computers.
Still, walking around the pure white, rectangular space at the Manu Chhabria Gallery at DUCTAC, it is fun to think of Calver's varied references. The square-within-a-square compositions of Josef Albers, the famous colour theorist and painter, are especially apparent. Meanwhile, Mark Rothko's late works for the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas, and their haunting variations on the colour black are echoed in pieces such as Opera's Bones - a work that contrasts a reddish black and bluish black against each other, along with Calver's signature coloured stripes down the sides of the canvas.
This is Calver's first exhibit in the UAE, though he is well known and widely exhibited in the UK. Born and raised in London, the 66-year-old artist has based his work and life in rural Devon. He also worked from many years as a teacher of art in the West Country.
Retirement in 1995 afforded more time to focus on his own work and the following year saw Calver admitted to the Newlyn Society of Artists, an arts group that has been based in the south-west of Britain since the 1800s.
Since then, Calver's work has been rewarded and lauded. The artist even become the recipient of an award last year from the prestigious Pollock Krasner Foundation, the US-based grant foundation named after the American painting greats Jackson Pollock and his wife, Lee Krasner.
The opening for Calver's show last month was well attended, and even on a random Wednesday afternoon several visitors could be seen wandering around the gallery and staring intently at the paintings. While in town for the opening, Calver also conducted lectures with groups from the Jumeirah English Speaking School about how he makes his work and his exploration of colour.
It seems that Calver is just as inspired by Dubai as Dubai is inspired by him. "The light there and its intensity is extraordinary," he says. "In England, when I came back, the colours seemed dull in comparison."
Though straightforward juxtapositions of colour are Calver's main inspiration, he does apply a painstakingly technical approach to his art. This is not only evident in the long and detailed process of testing out different-coloured stripes, but also in the vast amount of time he spends observing and thinking about painting, and considering other painters' use of colour.
While Calver does admit his link to both Mondrian and Albers, viewers would be hard pressed to guess many of his other artistic inspirations. "I spend a lot of time looking at Old Masters, especially Nicolas Poussin because of the structure of his painting," he says. "Buildings are quite inspiring as well- take, for instance, the whiteness of the buildings in Dubai and the flat colours against the sky."
Most of the work exhibited in All But Less Than was made in the last three years, indicating a remarkably creative period, and despite taking a certain inspiration from Dubai Calver has already returned to work.
At home in his studio in Devon, the artist is now picking ground colours for a new generation of works - the most important step in his painting, he says. Calver also notes that this is a near-continuous process and that, since colour combinations are infinite, each of his paintings leads directly to another.
"This exhibition is about a fascination with colour, with its fugitive and complex nature," he says in an artist's statement for the show. "I want to make colour earn its living."
All But Less Than by Michael Calver, DUCTAC, 2nd floor of the Mall of the Emirates Complex, Orange parking level, (04 341 4777). Until Dec 11. @email:www.ductac.org
swolff@thenational.ae
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Company%20profile
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PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
Sector: PropTech
Initial investment: Self-funded by founder
Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners
Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)
Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
