A highly anticipated collaboration between London’s esteemed Walton Fine Arts Gallery and Dubai’s Cities Design, Art & Lifestyle Store has given way to Contemporary Pop Art from Cities, a unique exhibition featuring carefully curated mixed-medium Pop Art pieces by artists E$COBAR & Van Donna. Street style, graffiti and contemporary pop culture come together during Art Week 2017 to bring internationally acclaimed pieces to Dubai.
Anyone who hears the name “Escobar” will immediately associate it with Pablo, cartel and Medellin. But art pundits and collectors will think of artist E$COBAR, whose works explore the Western world’s culture, its values and its contradictions, in ironic, often sadly accurate ways. Although his tag-name derives from Pablo Escobar from the hit series Narcos, stylized into “E$COBAR”, this artist is much more famous than infamous. Inspired by the contradictory ideals embedded in modern day society, he explores the intrinsic value the western world places on love, money, and power. His work merges Warhol’s pop culture and Banksy’s street style with words and symbols to convey a strong, direct message.
Upcoming artist Van Donna attributes her name to her main influences, Van Gogh and Madonna -quite an interesting mix! Her unique style resides in colorfully conveying traditional pop art with multiple aesthetic techniques, from stencil to spray paint and color prints, mainly through pointillism. She describes her paintings as “…an expression of the world within [her] and of the things [she loves]. It is a world full of colors, hope and beauty.” She has been experimenting with different techniques including cutting edge graffiti-style spray painted stencils while keeping a precise focus on the technique as a means of expression and not vice-versa.
The exhibition will be on display in The Boulevard Lounge at Manzil Downtown Dubai, from March 10-22, with the unveiling of the exclusive exhibition occurring at the start of Art Week.
