ISRAEL
DVIR GALLERY
Tel Aviv
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: Adel Abdessemed, Miroslaw Balka, Mircea Cantor, Latifa Echakhch, Ariel Schlesinger, Miri Segal
When Dvir Intrator set up his gallery in 1982, his mission was to support the careers of Israeli artists at home and abroad. Now spread across two spaces in Tel Aviv, Israel’s leading gallery also facilitates projects with overseas artists as part of its residency program, created more than a decade ago. Last year Dvir hosted the first solo show by New York–based artist Tavares Strachan, featuring work that’s showing at the 2013 Venice Biennale under the aegis of the Bahamas pavilion. “Je suis innocent,” a 2012 survey show of work by Adel Abdessemed at Paris’s Centre Pompidou, attests to the gallery’s efforts to promote its artists beyond the region.
NOGA GALLERY
Tel Aviv
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: Lea Avital, Joshua Borkovsky, Ori Gersht, Talia Keinan, Jossef Krispel, Oren Ben Moreh, Orit Raff, Alexandra Zuckerman
SOMMER CONTEMPORARY
Tel Aviv
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: Boyan, Michal Helfman, Gregor Hildebrandt, Ugo Rondinone, Christoph Ruckhaeberle, Netally Schlosser, Guy Zagursky, Thomas Zipp
LEBANON
SFEIR-SEMLER GALLERY
Beirut, Lebanon; Hamburg, Germany
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: Ian Hamilton Finlay, Hans Haacke, Sol LeWitt, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Wael Shawky
After founding her gallery in 1985 in the German town of Kiel, Andree Sfeir-Semler decided she needed a bigger audience for her minimalist and conceptual artists. That led her to Hamburg, and in 2005 she opened what is likely the Middle East’s largest commercial art space, in Beirut. Recent highlights include Walid Raad and Gabriel Kuri’s Beirut exhibitions.
SAUDI ARABIA
LAM ART GALLERY
Riyadh
Focus: Middle Eastern contemporary
Artists: Mohammed Farea, Fahad Al-Gethami, Corrine Martin, Hussein Al-Mohasen, Bassem Al-sharqi, Talal Al Zeid, Camille Zakharia
TURKEY
GALERI NON
Istanbul
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: Meriç Algün Ringborg, Gökçen Cabadan, Asli Cavusoglu, Annika Eriksson, Extrastruggle, Sefer Memisoglu, Erdem Tasdelen, Günes Terkol
RAMPA GALLERY
Istanbul
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: Nevin Aladag, Hüseyin
Bahri Alptekin, Vahap Avsar,
Ergin Cavusoglu, Cengiz Cekil, Inci
Furni, Leyla Gediz, Hatice Güleryüz,
Selma Gürbüz, Nilbar Güres, Bengü Karaduman, Servet Koçyisit, Ahmet Oran, Güçlü Oztekin, Erinç Seymen
One of the biggest galleries in Istanbul, Arif Suyabatmaz and Leyla Tara Suyabatmaz’s endeavor is situated among the newly renovated Akaretler Row Houses in the glitzy Besiktas district of Istanbul. Rampa’s 900-square-meter space holds large-scale installations; another room is designated for special projects. Both serve as venues to promote Turkish artists and have hosted works by Servet Koçyigit and Inci Furni.
RODEO GALLERY
Istanbul
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: Mark Aerial Waller, Emre Hüner, Iman Issa, Gülsün Karamustafa, Ian Law, Shahryar Nashat, Eftihis Patsourakis, James Richards
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
AYYAM GALLERY
Dubai, U.A.E.; Damascus, Syria; Beirut, Lebanon; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; London, U.K.
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: Sadik Alfraji, Safwan Dahoul, Samia Halaby, Nadim Karam, Afshin Pirhashemi, Khaled Takreti
Despite its international expansion, Ayyam Gallery’s main ambitions are fostering a contemporary art scene in Syria and, more recently, globally promoting talent from the broader Middle East region. Cousins Khaled and Hisham Samawi first set up shop in Damascus in 2006 and later opened spaces in Beirut and Dubai. This year, Ayyam extended its presence to London with a show by Nadim Karam, and also to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with a show of work by Mohannad Orabi. With the ongoing conflict in Syria, the gallery has converted its Damascus space into a studio and sanctuary for artists.
CARBON 12
Dubai
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: André Butzer, Gil Heitor Cortesão, Ghazel, Sara Rahbar, Anahita Razmi
In the words of founders Kourosh Nouri and Nadine Knotzer, Carbon 12’s emphasis has remained “firmly global” since the gallery’s inception in 2008. The pair was among the first in Dubai to set up a decidedly international platform, introducing the region to worldwide trends and encouraging artistic exchange. With over 34 exhibitions to date, Nouri and Knotzer have assembled an impressive roster of artists who have exhibited in museum shows at institutions like the Palais de Tokyo and Centre Pompidou in Paris and Australia’s Queensland Art Gallery. Recent highlights at Carbon 12 include Olaf Breuning’s Middle Eastern debut and the first commercial show by Anahita Razmi, who will also be showing at the 55th Venice Biennale.
GALLERY ISABELLE VAN DEN EYNDE
Dubai
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: Lara Baladi, Shadi Ghadirian, Nargess Hashemi, Aisha Khalid, Idris Khan
Committed to supporting up-and-coming as well as established talents from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, directors Isabelle van den Eynde and Barrak Alzaid have zealously promoted emerging figures such as Iranian artist Shadi Ghadirian and Lebanese-Egyptian artist Lara Baladi. Rokni Haerizadeh, an Iranian painter also backed by the gallery, has been selected to participate in the 2013 Carnegie International, a contemporary art exhibition in Pittsburgh showcasing 35 artists from around the world, and Mohammed Kazem, another artist in the Van den Eynde stable, is representing the U.A.E. at the 2013 Venice Biennale.
GREEN ART GALLERY
Dubai
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: Shadi Habib Allah, Kamrooz Aram, Seher Shah, Hale Tenger, Alessandro
Balteo Yazbeck
With a focus on Arab talent, Green Art Gallery has been dedicated to nurturing the careers of U.A.E. artists—including established players like Fateh Moudarres and Ismail Fattah—since founder Mayla Atassi opened its doors in 1995. When Yasmin Atassi came on as director in 2010, the gallery moved to a 3,000-square-foot warehouse space on Alserkal Avenue and revamped its curatorial vision to consciously present more ambitious projects. Last year the gallery welcomed New York–based artist Seher Shah and Venezuelan artist Alessandro Balteo Yazbeck into its fold.
GREY NOISE
Dubai
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: Fahd Burki, Ehsan ul Haq, Mehreen Murtaza, Iqra Tanveer, Michael John Whelan
Before relocating from Lahore, Pakistan, to Dubai in 2012, Umer Butt’s gallery had already established itself as a venue for conceptual art from South Asia and Europe. Despite the migration, the focus has remained on promoting conceptually provocative and experimental art in the Middle East. Standout shows from the past year include “Understanding Magnetism,” Michael John Whelan’s Middle Eastern debut, and a retrospective of Iranian-born, Australia-based artist Hossein Valamanesh’s work, another first for the region.
THE THIRD LINE
Dubai, U.A.E.; Doha, Qatar
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: Arwa Abouon, Rana Begum, Hassan Hajjaj, Tarek Al-Ghoussein, Huda Lutfi
Sunny Rahbar, Omar Ghobash, and Claudia Cellini set up the Third Line in the Al Quoz 3 area of Dubai in early 2005 and recently opened a second space in Doha, Qatar, spreading the gallery’s influence across the region. In addition to its commercial programming, the Third Line has established not-for-profit programs that promote and support Arab literature, contemporary Middle Eastern crafts, and Arab filmmaking. Last year’s highlights include the Middle Eastern debuts of Ebtisam Abdulaziz and Maha Saab, and new work by Hayv Kahraman.
