It is not just falcons, weapons, hunting and outdoors equipment that take centre stage at the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (Adihex).
Apart from the ‘traditional' painting and photography competitions that take place annually, artists and even art galleries are setting up shop during the four-day event, which this year will take place from September 10 to 13 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
For the first time in the 12 years' history of Adihex, Swiss Art Gate U.A.E. is setting up a pavilion, displaying 18 artworks of the Kazakh artist Nurlan Bazhirov.
"He is well known for his horse paintings and we think Adihex is an ideal venue for his artworks,” Kurt Blum, general manager of Swiss Art Gate U.A.E., told Khaleej Times.
In the visual art scene of Kazakhstan, Nurlan Bazhirov is a well-known and established wildlife artist. His compositions depict some very dramatic and aesthetically fine detailed scenes of horses. The main theme of the work is the artist's imagination of the horse and Bazhirov has demonstrated mastery skills in a variety of ways. His work shows a particular vision of history, a comprehension of tradition and the reality of life.
Each work of Bazhirov embodies a certain subject and it weaves a specific story on canvas.
For him the world is doomed to be in constant agony, powerful natural forces and supernatural suspense overcome all its elements, and the most striking expression of this endless process, according to the artist, is the horse in its beauty and grace that fascinates mankind and inspires him to capture the image of the animal in its most varied forms. Bazhirov's horses, although arriving for the first time to Abu Dhabi, are not new to the U.A.E..
"We had an exhibition of his works for the first time last winter, at Armani Hotel in Dubai, meant to promote him here; it was followed by a second exhibition at the International Horse Fair in Dubai, where his paintings were quite well received and we got very good feedback,” explained Blum.
Bazhirov will travel all the way from Kazakhstan to join his artworks at Adihex. Each day he will spend 50 minutes drawing sketches of horses on paper and visitors are welcomed to watch him work and ask any questions about his sketches, as well as about his paintings.
"When I read that 120,000 visitors came to Adihex last year and knowing many Emiratis who love horses are visiting the event, I thought Nurlan Bazhirov's artworks will not go unnoticed,” pointed out Blum.
Source: Khaleej Times