The Art + Design + Fashion diaries of Diya Ajit

News on shoes...

2012-02-07T05:04:00.000-08:00

How great is this PUMA poster designed by Kris Dozign Balerite? Featuring the shoe I designed with PUMA last year, it really brings the colours of my shoe design out and makes it literally leap off the page.

I've been busy sketching and designing shoes for the past few months and have some top secret plans in motion. Let's just say it involves women, a made-in-Italy stamp, luxury, high fashion, comfort and exclusivity.

Those who know me well know I have a massive shoe fetish and have a dedicated wall display for my shoes at home. Well I'm about to take things a step further and really show everyone just how much I love shoes! And I'm hoping you'll love what I have to share too!

A recent feature in Quint Magazine delves a little more into what I've got up my sleeve. I was interviewed by my close friend Gayathri Krishnan who is the new editor over at Quint so its a very personal and candid insight into where I'm at creatively at the moment.

2012: Reboot!

2012-02-07T02:24:00.000-08:00

A lot of people have been asking where I've disappeared to for the past few months and for lack of a simple answer I've mostly feigned temporary deafness. The truth is I've been taking some time to slow down and think about which creative path I'd like to pursue in 2012. And while I don't yet have a definitive answer I do know that I no longer want to work at an advertising agency full-time.

So that's that.

I'm taking a short break and then I'll be opening myself up to creative opportunities and seeing how I can focus more on fashion, art and lifestyle projects and merge them with my experience in advertising, marketing, strategy, concepts, guerilla, digital, writing and art direction.

Its all very exciting and frightening at the same time! Stay tuned.

My new (little) logo

2012-01-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

Ahlan Hot 100

2011-09-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

I was super flattered to be one of 2011's 'Hot 100 List'- noted as a 'Pioneer', and I think my portrait turned out pretty good too (thank you to Daniel Partovi for buying my portrait to donate money to Breast Cancer Research and to Juliet Catherine Dunne for the lovely picture).

It was such fun trying on clothes with Pia Aung at various boutiques but I ended up splurging on my own black and gold floor-length number with a lace train and a custom-headpiece. I like to make an entrance. ;)

I was up to no good at the party of course, kicking my heels off and jumping around like a ninny long after all the glamorous people left and only the debauched remained, crowded around the speakers in our finest threads.

The hardbound book sits on my coffee table next to my David LaChapelle and Urban Art books and I thought I'd share the article with you. It calls me 'crazy beautiful creative'...and an 'octopus'...all in one line. Hmm...

At last...Rolling Stone!

2011-09-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

Growing up I wanted to be a rock star. And therefore it's always been a dream to appear in Rolling Stone Magazine. And finally I have achieved this. Ok so it's only my name in point size 6 on the bottom of the Gig Guide for a gig that got cancelled...but still. Rolling Stone I have conquered you at last! ;)
(Obvs I have highlighted the mention in yellow just because it's so small even I may miss it...)

Infusion Magazine's Pic of the Week

2011-09-08T05:50:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the lovely Angela Susan Riles-Baker from Infusion mag for this pic of me with my jazz hands out. Taken at a night out on the lash at the infamous Freshly Laced event at Casa Latina, Ibis Hotel, it got published as the pic of the week. GEEKFEST!

Grazia Style Awards + Valleydez vouchers

2011-09-08T05:37:00.000-07:00

So in addition to getting a little statue with my name on it I also got AED 5000/- worth of vouchers to splurge at Valleydez. Valleydez, in case you don't already know it, is a quirky little boutique in Wafi crammed with adorable accesories and odd clothes. Needless to say it's my kinda place...

Grazia took these photos of me wearing some pieces from the store mixed in with my own pieces. I really don't like 7am shoots-I look lost! The shoot isn't really my style..its all a bit too 'cute' for me...I prefer a more 'mannish-androgenous' look personally. But hey I got a two-page spread of the magazine all to myself!

Ahlan! Because I'm a foodie...

2011-09-08T05:31:00.001-07:00

I love food. So Ahlan! got in touch to ask me about some lesser-known Dubai gastronomical treasures...

TimeOut Magazine- Street Style

2011-09-08T05:26:00.000-07:00

The super talented photographer Verko Ignajovic at ITP took this photo of me. I later teamed up with him to take the photos for the S*uce Loves blog which I posted about a month ago as well...

Parachute Secrets & Bucharest, Romania

2011-09-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy summer and I spent a while shooting some hair commercials in Bucharest, Romania. Bucharest is a strange place. Everything is stuck in time- the architecture, the music blaring out of shops as you pass by (think Wham! Micheal Learns to Rock and Boyzone...), and the way people dress.

We spent our days working, walking the streets, people-watching, eating big fat dinners and drinking coarse wine. Oh yeah and a one off visit to a casino and a strip club (I got tricked into it I promise you!).

I also got in touch with some Romanian fashion bloggers such as Alice in Vintageland at PopCulture&Magic and Tokyo & Seoul Dreams. Who pointed me towards some vintage stores and markets. Thanks ladies!

Here are the hair commercials we made for Parachute Secrets hair oil...

Main commercial...

Testimonials...

Credits:
Agency: DDB Dubai
Client: Marico- Parachute Secrets
Creative Director: Firas Medrows
Account Director: Anshuman Kishore
Senior Copywriter: Karim Sherif
Senior Art Director: Diya Ajit
Arabic Copywriter: Ali Mohammad
Production House: ABIS Films, Bucharest, Romania
Producer: Heba Kharouf
Director: Nicolas Salis
DOP: John Alfirevitch
Sound: BKP, Dubai

Tropicana Frutz sparkling drink ad

2011-09-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

So here's the commercial I made for the launch of new sparkling fruit drink Tropicana Frutz.

Full credits:
Credits:
Agency: DDB Dubai
Client: Pepsico - Tropicana
Creative Director: Firas Medrows
Business Director: Elizabeth Morrison
Group Account Director: Edward Harris
Senior Copywriter: Camilla Mclean
Senior Art Director: Diya Ajit
Arabic Copywriter: Ali Mohammad
Production House: Clandestino Films, Beirut
Producer: Mona El Hajj
Director: Kal Karman
Animation Director: Agustin Verrastro
Sound: Audioforce, Berlin

I love headpieces

2011-09-06T07:19:00.000-07:00

I've always like putting things on my head. And so in the run-up to the New Era Introducing project(which I shall introduce you to soon!) I thought I'd post some of the headpieces I've made in the past few months...

Here's one I made for the Ahlan Hot 100 party...

And another for my Ahlan Hot 100 portrait...

And yet another for Masala! magazine...

I love making headpieces so if you've got a crazy idea and want to make something- get in touch!

Ahlan! Face to Watch.

2011-09-06T07:03:00.000-07:00

This came out a few weeks ago. Pretty rubbish scan of it but you can read it online here at Ahlan Live.

Henry Holland at S*uce Boutique

2011-09-06T06:15:00.000-07:00

Had a fun evening at S*uce with Henry Holland at the decks and then went for some drinks with Alistair Mulhall from Esquire, Kate Hazell from Harpers Bazaar and of course Mr.Holland himself and his lovely business partner Jessica Fletcher (best bud of Agyness Deyn no less!). Sigh.

Thanks to fashion blogger Maha at Oversized Shades & Coffee for the post on the Henry Holland event at S*uce and for this pic of my geek-chic outfit...

And to Pamela Lico for some pics of Alistair and I...

An ambassador for the launch of Bimba & Lola

2011-09-06T05:28:00.000-07:00

Spanish label Bimba & Lola teamed up with awesome events company Brag for their launch event in Dubai a few months ago. 10 Dubai stylistas, including myself, were nominated as ambassadors and sent limousines, champagne on ice and asked to invite our girlfriends for a night on the town culminating at a private soiree at the new store in BurJuman. Queue mad scrabbling for the fab goodies on offer at the store. The event was massive fun as you can see from my pictures below...we did have one male stowaway in the limo...

They also gave away the best giveaways I've ever seen from a brand. Leather tote anyone? Or perhaps some printed wooden-framed sunnies?

POSE Magazine feature

2011-09-06T04:47:00.000-07:00

POSE Magazine did a feature on me a couple of months ago that I hadn't had a minute to scan in. Photographer Ali Rasit and I took off into the desert and spent an evening fighting sunset to get some pictures for the spread. We got some great images and they deserve their own post, but for now here's the article...

RedVelvetNation post

2011-09-06T03:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the wonderful fashion blog RedVelvetNation for featuring me at the Grazia Style Awards 2011...

Satellite Voices article on me...

2011-09-06T03:08:00.000-07:00

Satellite Voices is a new cultural platform created by independent city editors across the globe, brought to you by Dazed and Swatch. A brand new website, creative community and cultural guide celebrating seven diverse and creative cities from around the world, Satellite Voices supports the very best in fashion, music, art, film, photography and culture.

Their innovative new platform connects seven teams of influential local city editors from Paris, Moscow, Rome, Munich, Dubai, Shanghai and Santiago, to broadcast Satellite Voices to a worldwide audience of millions. Exciting new territories that both Dazed and Swatch are eager to creatively engage and explore.

Satellite Voices features the young and the visionary from the artistic underground, and champions creative cultural revolutions that deserve the world’s attention with daily interviews, inspired opinion pieces, scene spotlights, reviews and previews. They also delve behind the scenes with the mercurial artists and fashion designers that will be collaborating with Swatch throughout the year, those inspired by the iconic watch brand.

By providing a creative heartbeat featuring special guest editors, exclusive collaborations projects, local street style photography and monthly mixtapes, this is a global hub for local insights and youth creativity, the likes of which has never been seen before.

Here's the feature they did on me...

TimeOut Style Magazine Launch

2011-09-06T02:34:00.000-07:00

TimeOut launched it's new Style Magazine a couple of months ago which promises to have it's finger on the pulse of all things neat. For the launch issue they asked me what I might save from my home should there be a fire...
Keep an eye out for their latest issue featuring Dubai's "Twenty Most Stylish"...

Ahlan Masala Feature

2011-09-06T02:10:00.000-07:00

I got a call to do this interview and felt I wanted to showcase both my art and fashion sensibilities...and sort of have a commentary on all the recent press I've received for which I'm so thankful. So I made a newspaper dress, hat, shoes and cuffs. The dress fell apart the morning of the shoot...but I made do...

Grazia Loves (me!)

2011-09-06T01:57:00.000-07:00

Post the Grazia Style Awards I've had a lotta love from TimeOut, Grazia, Ahlan, Masala and Harpers Bazaar...
Thank you everyone! (even if you spelt my name wrong Grazia! Although it's spelt correctly on my award statuete!)
xx

TimeOut Magazine Summer Style Feature

2011-09-06T01:53:00.000-07:00

TimeOut Magazine got in touch to ask me what I'm wearing this summer...

Music Master Launch campaign

2011-05-31T06:09:00.000-07:00

My copywriter Camilla McLean and I had been working for months on the launch of new music download portal www.music-master.com so it was a genuine pleasure to win two bronze awards for the campaign at the Dubai Lynx 2011. We got a bronze each in the Media and Design categories- a tad disappointing but nonetheless we are very proud!

The campaign has been entered into this year's Cannes Lions Advertising Festival and we're crossing our fingers for a shortlist before the festival opens its doors on June 17th.

I'll write a separate post on the happenings of the Lynx 2011 but I thought the Music Master launch campaign ought to have its very own post. Here is the work and a case study video explaining the inner workings of the campaign, the idea and the results generated by our efforts.

The challenge was to launch a new regional legal music download site, Music Master to a youth target who were used to downloading their music illegally and for free.
It was important to demonstrate the breadth of Music Master’s catalogue and create an easy way to access and bookmark a hard-to-remember URL. The strategy was to create a campaign that allowed the target to directly access the website whilst engaging with a creative idea that was relevant to them and also provided them with the instant gratification of free music. All this on a shoestring budget.

The teaser campaign introduced the QR codes while the reveal used ambient and press portraits of real people made up of codes linking to the featured subject's favourite music. Users snapped codes with their smartphones and downloaded the free music to their computers to explore the concept: I am my Music. I am Musicmaster.
Users directly accessed and bookmarked the Music Master website whilst experiencing the breadth of the catalogue through the free music. Online banners, radio ads and a facebook app further engaged the audience. Client objectives were to create buzz amongst the target audience and media and achieve 833 registered users/month in year one.

Increased smartphone penetration in the UAE meant that using QR codes made sense. The codes gave an instantly recognisable campaign mnemonic, drove traffic to the website to bookmark the URL plus there was the added incentive of free music. Portraits of real people made up of their favourite music allowed users to explore that subjects's personality through these tracks and encouraged consumers to define their own personalities and music collections through Music Master. The instant gratification of getting free music from these portraits suited the short attention spans of our target plus the feel of the campaign reflected their eclectic worlds of technology and music.

Client’s two-month target for site registrations achieved in just 3 weeks.
1500 registered users and 3500 unique users during launch phase.
PR coverage valued at >$150K achieved from buzz around launch activity.
30+ news stories in first week of the launch plus innumerable blog and forum posts.

“The campaign was a massive success for us getting the brand out and about amongst a hard-to-impress target audience. People actively engaged with the creative and by the end of the reveal phase the registrations on the site had exceeded our expectations by 100%.” Edward Bagnall, Marketing and Communications Manager at Music Master

Credits:
Senior Art Director : Diya Ajit
Senior Copywriter : Camilla McLean
Account Supervisor : Edward Harris
Marketing Manager : Edward Bagnall
Retouching : Firstbase (London)
Case Study video: Optix Digital (Dubai)
First Release date : February 1st 2011

Fakie skateboard exhibition at Bloomingdales

2011-05-31T05:32:00.000-07:00

I should have posted this one months ago but only just got around to it! The Fakie exhibition we did last summer at The Shelter, Dubai got re-exhibited to the public at Bloomingdales in December 2010.

I know I posted pictures of the skateboard I designed for the show earlier but here is a proper photo:

And a proper write-up on the design:
I like to think my work is visually self-explanatory. I take inspiration from my immediate surroundings, places I've visited awake or dreaming, and people and fashion I spy on the streets. On a more subliminal level I like to explore darker themes: attempting to walk a line between the grotesque and the beautiful, the sexually repressed and the exhibitionist: hopefully evoking discomfort and curiosity all at once. The colors I use in my artworks are reflective of my mood - for Psychokitty I've used brights to mirror a certain playfulness. Needless to say my new kitten *‘Polka’ has been an inspiration for this piece.

Note: *My beloved kitten Polka had to be put down at the end of December but I hope I've done her some justice by immortalising her in this piece.

There's been a bit of press coverage but this is all I could glean online...

S*uce blog post

2011-05-31T02:53:00.000-07:00

www.sauceloves.com, the blog arm of local boutique S*uce recently did a post on me for their section on local style. I got together with photographer Verko Ignjatovic at ITP publishing and took these pictures over the weekend specifically for the post. Here are the results...what do you think?

Grazia Style Awards 2011

2011-05-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I was informed that I'd been shortlisted for Grazia magazine's Most Stylish Reader 2011 award...the grand prize at the Grazia Style Awards apparently. I didn't expect to win and went along to the glitzy awards ceremony with my boyfriend and a few friends. So it came as a pleasant surprise to win the title this year, beating out Dubai's fashion blogger pack! The title came with AED 5000 worth of vouchers to spend at Valleydez! Muchos Gracias Grazia!

The highlight of the evening for me though was being dressed for the night by Henry Holland himself. I got a call from the lovely Kate Hazell at Harper's Bazaar Arabia asking if I'd like to wear one of Henry's AW11 samples and if I could come by his hotel and pick out an outfit. Needless to say I scrambled down there as quick as I could and ended up in a lovely blue silk shirt dress with colourful lace detailing and the most adorable buttons. Henry and his business partner Jess Fletcher were lovely and it was a fantastic opportunity to hang out (and get dressed for a night out!) with them. What do you think of me and Kate's dresses?

Just before the awards begun, Henry tweeted this picture of Kate and I in the dresses. I looked up the tweet the next morning and was amazed to see it had had 1500 hits in the 10 hours it had been posted! What a crazy place the internet is...

I now have my heavy little award occupying space on my coffee table. Looks a little out of place in my tiny apartment...but nonetheless I'm happy to have it!

Behold The Locus + Chroma for PUMA Creative Factory

2011-05-18T22:32:00.000-07:00

So I've been busy with several things lately. One of the things I've quietly been working away on is a new PUMA sneaker for local alternative band Behold The Locus. Richard Wilson- the lead singer of the band, approached me asking if we could design a shoe that the band could use for their stage performances. I tried to create a shoe that captures the personality of the band while allowing them many different shoelace options so each individual band member could customise his shoe a little to suit his outfit or mood.

Here are the results...

While I was down at the PUMA store I also noticed that my previous sneaker designed for PUMA was still in the window display! With my name tag and a picture of me et all! Honoured!

There's been some buzz generated around the shoe...the official press release states:

"Diya Ajit, an award-winning visual artist and PUMA Creative Factory ambassador, and BTL design the one-of-a-kind shoe that reflects the collective cutting edge styles of both the designer and wearer using the custom-built iPad application available at the flagship PUMA store at Dubai Mall. The bespoke shoe has been launched by BTL in association with PUMA Creative Factory - a shoe customization concept that features new styles, fresh materials and a completely new design process to deliver an innovative and authentic sneaker design experience."

There might be some giveaways and a possible tie-up with Virgin Megastores so watch this space if you'd like to get your hands on these limited edition sneakers.

Biography

2011-03-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have asked me exactly what it is that I do...so here's a summary...

Inkie and crew at the Flash Forum, Yas Island Weekends

2011-03-27T04:08:00.000-07:00

So UBIK and myself were asked to help out at the Flash Forum in December. Arriving in Abu Dhabi I was greeted by Inkie and his crew from Bristol, including: Cheo, Epok, Soker, 3Dom and 45Rpm. Together they'd been at work for two solid days on a 30 metre wall adjacent to the concert stage featuring The Narcyssict, Nelly Furtado and others. It transpired that UBIK and I were to run the graffiti workshops for kids (read: 50 odd little brats running around with aerosols, gas masks and far too much energy for my hungover state).
The afternoon culminated with a "spray-off" between Inkie and 3Dom

The Emirates Woman Awards

2011-03-27T03:53:00.000-07:00

As some of my followers know I was nominated for this prestigious award last year. I didn't win- losing out to the author and motivational speaker Mariam Behnam. At 90 years of age, this veteran of the Arts in the U.A.E is quite a firecracker and was the well-deserved winner of the title. As the youngest nominee I conceded defeat at the bar and spent most of the evening posing for photos and vandalising the massive portrait of myself erected on the red carpet.

Art Stars Auction 2010- Phillips de Pury, Howick Place, London

2010-12-08T04:10:00.000-08:00

Here's a peek...

ART STARS 2010 AUCTION from Polo Jeans Co. - Art Stars on Vimeo.

...So it turns out the ART STARS exhibition & auction was a huge success! It raised a substantial amount of money for the Teenage Cancer Trust although it's still unclear which stars sold exactly...
I'm pasting the official press release here...

A SERIES OF EXCLUSIVE PIECES BY EUROPE’S MOST EXCITING YOUNG ARTISTS WILL BE AUCTIONED AT PHILLIPS de PURY & COMPANY IN SUPPORT OF TEENAGE CANCER TRUST
VIEWING: DECEMBER 4 – DECEMBER 6, 2010
LOCATION: Phillips de Pury & Company, Howick Place, London

London - Phillips de Pury & Company is delighted to announce the launch of Art
Stars – an exhibition of 42 works from a group of Europe’s emerging contemporary artists in conjunction with Polo Jeans Co, to be auctioned on Monday 6th November at Phillips de Pury & Company.

Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust— a charity dedicated to improving the lives of young people with cancer. Throughout the three days, visitors will be able to place silent bids on the Art Stars and the event will conclude with a party on the evening of Monday 6th November in which
Simon de Pury will auction a selection of the Art Stars live.

“The Art Stars project is an important partnership for the Polo Jeans brand. We
are excited to be working with these talented artists and honored that Art Stars
will be supporting this worthwhile cause,” said David Lauren, Senior Vice
President of Advertising, Marketing, and Corporate Communications at Polo
Ralph Lauren.

The Art Starts project is inspired by the iconic American Star Spangled Banner
and is synonymous with the philosophy of the of the Polo Jeans Co. brand. The
brand commissioned up-and-coming European and Middle Eastern contemporary artists to customize a canvas by creating three-dimensional stars made from the finest American denim. The artists can choose an assortment of materials unique to their specialty and materials ranged from denim and replicas of the American flag to dyes, bleach and embroidery.

“At Teenage Cancer Trust, we know how important fashion and art are to the daily lives of the patients we work with. This partnership is a fantastic opportunity for us because, as well as allowing some of our young people to get involved in designing their own stars, it also raises vital funds for us to continue to provide the best specialized care for teenagers and young adults with cancer across the UK,” said Simon Davies, Chief Executive of Teenage Cancer Trust.

“We are very happy to be joining Polo Jeans Co. in supporting Teenage Cancer Trust.” Simon de Pury, Chairman of Phillips de Pury & Company. The stars have been displayed in select Polo Jeans Co. stores in cities across Europe before culminating in the exhibition and auction at Phillips de Pury.

TEENAGE CANCER TRUST
Teenagers don’t stop being teenagers because they have cancer, which is why
Teenage Cancer Trust builds specialized units in NHS hospitals, staffed by
teenage cancer specialists. These units are designed for and by young people
and aim to give teenage cancer patients the very best chance for a positive
outcome, while living as close as possible to a normal life. State-of-the-art
facilities keep patients occupied during long and often gruelling stays, while
bringing teenagers with cancer together so they can support each other. For
more information, please visit: www.teenagecancertrust.org.

PHILLIPS de PURY & COMPANY
Founded in London in 1796, Phillips de Pury & Company is widely acknowledged
as one of the three leading international auction houses, and is the only major
auction house to concentrate on contemporary art and culture. The Company
has enjoyed immense success in the global marketplace as a result of its focus.
Phillips de Pury & Company is universally acclaimed for the quality of its visual
presentation in catalogues and pre-sale exhibitions, its creative marketing
activities and the pioneering vision of its Chairman, Simon de Pury, and his team
in identifying new collecting trends and setting numerous auction records.
Phillips de Pury is recognized as the contemporary culture tastemaker.

For more information, please visit: www.phillipsdepury.com.

PUMA: The shoe, the photos and the video

2010-12-08T04:04:00.000-08:00

So here's my shoe customisation...

The photos of me wearing my kicks...

And the music track and video created using the voices and images of the 16 PUMA ambassadors.
Track composed by: Pavan Mukhi, Hamdan-al-Abri, Micheal Daniel
Video created by: BRAG

Can you hear me and see me?

PUMA Creative Factory Launch Party & Reveal

2010-12-08T03:52:00.000-08:00

So we finally got the shoes back from PUMA, Germany! BRAG and Sticky Ginger threw a massive party on an empty floor of the Media One Hotel last week to officially launch PUMA's shoe customisation initiative in the Middle East. I was on hand, in PUMA threads of course, to doodle on a vinyl sticker and generally mingle.
ABRI performed alongside Micheal Daniel who took over the decks for the night...the music video and song created using the voices and images of the 16 ambassadors was shared...and generally far too much drinking was done...

The Villa 47 Project

2010-11-23T22:39:00.000-08:00

Faced with far too many restrictions in official club venues party organisers are looking to the freedom of the underground scene in Dubai where they can do what they like, how they like. The Villa 47 Project is part of this movement, gathering together Dubai's graffiti heads, DJ's, B-boys, and party people in one place to express themselves and throw down anyway they like. Stay tuned for more installments as this gathers momentum.

Live art for YSL Belle D'Opium launch

2010-11-11T03:22:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I did a live piece for the launch of YSL's new fragrance Belle D'Opium. The event included a fashion show, live music and much theatrics with a swish crowd and mountains (lireally) of double-decker macarons from french favourites Ladurée.

Here are some pictures of the piece at the event which I completed in just under an hour...it measures 2m x 2m...

...and the ad for the perfume, starring Mélanie Thierry and shot by Romain Gavras with music by Nitin Sawhney. Just for ambience.

Ralph Lauren Art Stars Dubai Launch

2010-11-11T01:27:00.001-08:00

I've posted enough about the RL Polo Jeans Art Stars project so I'm happy to say that the star is finally on it's way to London to join the other 51 stars in an exhibition at the Philips de Pury auction house. I'll be joining the star and some of the other artists in London at the beginning of December so if any other artists want to do some throw-ups or collaborate while I'm down- get in touch!
For now here are some pictures taken at the Dubai launch event for the project. UBIK and I customised a miniature star that was raffled away and people came down for live music, nibbles and to check out the project.

So I designed a sneaker with PUMA...

2010-11-11T01:10:00.000-08:00

The lovely peeps at PUMA have named me a brand ambassador, and along with 15 others from the fields of art, music, design and fashion, we've each designed a customised sneaker for them.
A couple of weeks ago we attended an atelier session where we had to choose from over 1000 components to create our designs before they were sent off to Germany for manufacturing.
Now the shoes have landed in Dubai and we had a photoshoot to document them before the big launch. I won't reveal the designs just yet but here's a sneak peek behind the scenes!

We also had the lovely Simon Pegg hanging out with us at the studio looking in on our antics with the white perspex box which was our main prop for the shoot.

Check out our video too!

An independant perspective

2010-09-21T03:36:00.000-07:00

I thought it important to post this article about me from the blog In My Last Brain Cell. IMLB is a new blog on the block discussing design and art news from the region. I do not know the author of the blog personally and I have neither paid her to promote me nor bribed her with promises of cross-promoting her new blog.

She is simply someone who heard of me through my Emirates Woman nomination and wanted to know who I was and why I deserved to be nominated.

I think context is an important thing and I'd like to think that those voting for me understand what their vote represents: supporting me is supporting one small member of a group of local artists who are trying to create an urban art culture in Dubai and your vote is a small but important big-up to artists who are over-looked, unfunded and unsupported.

http://imlbc.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/underground-art-in-dxb/

A small film about me and my Polo Jeans Art Star

2010-09-21T01:43:00.001-07:00

Diya from Polo Jeans Co. - Art Stars on Vimeo.

A couple of months ago a crew flew down from London to shoot me working on my RL Polo Jeans Art Star. The star was in it's very early stages here but I'll be posting the 'official' photos of the completed star here soon.

Blogger seems to be unable (or I'm just blogger-challenged) to display videos at the correct size and tends to crop them, but this can be remedied by simply double- clicking any video on this blog to display the full picture.

Heineken Greenspace Event documentary

2010-09-21T01:32:00.000-07:00

Small documentary on the Heineken Greenspace event I painted live at a couple of months ago. The event took place at 360 and you can read the full blog article I posted if you look through my archives. The film features some extreme close-ups of my hands and nose. Nice. Not really. Luckily they didn't include the footage of the interview they did with me where I had sweat trickling down my forehead. Phew.

A big musical and arts spectacle in Dubai...

2010-09-21T00:46:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned the amazing Gayathri Krishnan before? Well if this is a new name to you you need to be brought up to speed with Dubai's local live music scene. Gayathri is by far one of the most talented singer/song-writer's I've ever heard and I feel privileged to know her. And soon, work with her.

I won't reveal too many details about what we have planned together. But I'll just say that it's the biggest coming together of Dubai's local musical and artistic talent. And I'm not bigging myself up here- there are a lot of amazing artists involved in the project and it's truly going to be a spectacle for the senses.

To whet your appetite here's an article by The National about the project...

Diya Ajit for Emirates Woman of the Year 2010

2010-09-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

So I've been nominated for the Emirates Woman of the Year Award 2010 in the Artists category. I'm actually the only artist in the category- the other nominees are all wonderful women who have contributed to the U.A.E's burgeoning art scene in a curatorial way mostly. I'm by far the youngest in my category (one of the other nominees is 90 years old!) and perhaps amongst the youngest nominee across all categories too.

You can read about me here:

http://emirateswomanawards.com/ewa/?page_id=207

...and vote for me of course! Every vote counts so I'd appreciate all your support!

Box Wall at DIFC- Timelapse video

2010-09-19T05:14:00.000-07:00

Simon Mark Hunt just sent this video across of the Box Wall we built and painted at DIFC in a single evening.

Featured artists:
Chroma (moi!)
Simon Mark Hunt
Dozign
Fathima Mohiuddin
Deep Fry
Danoe
Petra Mattar
Khalid Mezaina
Sheikha Wafa

Cover girl

2010-09-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

Well. POOL Magazine- an international design magazine published in India, has decided to make me their cover girl for the month of September.

The full magazine can be found online at:
http://issuu.com/poolmagazine/docs/poolthree

The Diya & Mansoor Project

2010-09-19T05:02:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd do a post on my latest collaborative endevour: The Diya & Mansoor Project. You may have seen my previous posts over the past few months featuring images I created with the genius Mansoor Bhatti. Well we've officially launched it as a project and you'll be seeing more and more stuff coming through from us over the next few weeks.

Working together on this project in Dubai, we are creating experimental images which allow us to explore new photography techniques as well as new ways with lighting, styling and post-production.

Mike Ross & Zahra Soar's CLICHé Event at the Irish Village

2010-07-19T02:39:00.000-07:00

Some press about me (and the Cliche event of course)in City Times and 7Days...

The Irish Village presents CLICHé: a nostalgic look at the music, memories and iconography of the last 30 years.

Each weeks will feature a different decade of music: the 80s, 90s and Noughties.

DJ's Zahra Soar and Mike Ross will provide the tunes at The Irish Village Tent on Thursdays & Fridays throughout July.

Artists Diya Ajit, Kris 'Dozign' Balerite, Fathima Mohiuddin and Simon Mark Hunt will be down at the venue creating a live freestyle mural on the opening night.

*** CLICHé ***

With music trends spreading across the diaspora and new genres being created seemingly every minute, it is often the case that people feel somewhat left behind - culturally-speaking - alienating those who, perhaps, have neither the time nor the inclination to keep up with trending genres. Cliché is a brand new concept created quite simply to quash the notions that music is going beyond the masses, rather it is simply going full circle where the sounds of yesteryear are as relevant today as they ever were.
Commemorating the last 30 years of culture, Cliché brings modern-classic sounds and images together in a multi-media festival of post-modern iconography.

*** THURSDAY ***

ZAHRA (Open Mic, Dubai Eye, 103.8) presents a detailed musical retrospective of all the ONE HIT WONDERS that reared there soon-to-be-forgotten heads throughout the 90s. While we try to forget the names, the songs will always stick in our minds!

*** FRIDAY ***

Do you remember KURT? NIRVANA? The baggy clothes, the rise and rise of the Seattke scene? Pixies-inspired grunge and rock that seized control of the world? Lollapalooza and Rock the Vote? If it wasn't for the super-sounds of the 90s, Bill Clinton would have gone the way of the Gores and Dukasiseses of the world. Pearl Jam, Sugar, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots and countless others that have formed the basis of the American Indie-Rock scene.

BRING IT ON!

Photos by Fathima Mohiuddin...

The Rambling Roses- Part 1

2010-07-19T02:25:00.000-07:00

If you're familiar with my blog you'll remember the photos of myself I posted that were taken by the fantastic Art Director and photographer Mansoor Bhatti.

Well Mansoor and I decided to continue with our artistic collaborations, only this time with a whole lot more friend/models/talent and a Victorian theme.

Introducing the Rambling Roses series- Part 1.

Models:
Melissa Rutherford
Camilla McLean
Patricia T
Natasha Carella
Diya Ajit

Hair:
Sisters Beauty Lounge
La Femme Salon
Diya Ajit
Camilla McLean

Makeup:
Patricia T and the girls themselves

Styling:
Diya Ajit

Art Direction:
Mansoor Bhatti and Diya Ajit

Photography:
Mansoor Bhatti

Retouching:
Mansoor Bhatti

Clothes credits:
Tima Ouzden / Dju*Dju
Natasha Carella and Natasha's mom!
Diya Ajit
Camilla McLean
Patricia T
Zahra Soar
Melissa Rutherford

Gothic Feast:
Zahra Soar

Heineken Greenspace

2010-06-21T01:53:00.000-07:00

So what is Heineken's 'Greenspace'? It's a series of global events that combine music, film and fashion. So far Greenspace events have taken place all over Europe and this was the first installation of the event in the middle east.

Organised by PR and Events specialists (respectively) : Brag and Sticky Ginger, Greenspace turned 360 into 'a canvas of urban energy! Celebrated graffiti artists, blank walls, subversive expression and you, combine for the most distinctive party of the year. Come & share the battleground!' according to the official (misleading) press release. I say misleading because a) Although I was one of the 3 artists performing on the night, I am not a celebrated graffiti artist and b) the 'battleground' was not open to the public as the press release suggested...leading some keen individuals to show up with their paints and vy for our canvas space!!

The artists performing on the night were : Chroma (yours truly), Joseph Manata of The Brownmonkeys crew and Simon Mark Hunt of pop-up art events fame :)

Greenspace events are soon to be a regular fixture in the city- the idea being to put Dubai's two distinctively different crowds of youth : the art-goers and the party-goers...into one space and see what emerges.

To give you an idea of what's been done abroad: For the launch event last year, Heineken worked closely with the city of Valencia and CC-Lab to regenerate a run-down inner city area and provide a permanent arts/cultural exhibition space. The event included performances and collaborations from Rem Koolhaas, Mathew Herbert, LOMO, Sonic Youth, House of Diehl, Anthony and the Jonhnsons & Giles Peterson.

Looks like we've got plenty more exciting Greenspace events to look forward to. I was honoured to be part of the first in Dubai. Although I have to say I found it pretty amusing that my canvas was yet another star (I actually had to seek permission to do this event as I wanted to make sure it wouldn't be in conflict of interest to my beloved Polo Jeans Co. Art Star!).

Here are some images of the first Heineken Greenspace event...photos courtesy of Brag Ltd. and Infusion Magazine (the lovely Angela Susan Riles in particular)...

Polo Jeans Art Stars : Website launch

2010-06-06T00:42:00.001-07:00

So the official website for the Art Stars project has been launched.

You can find all the news, pictures, interviews and videos of all the artists and their stars on here:

http://artstars.polojeans.com/

I've included some previews of my profile with this post...they have yet to upload the pictures of me working and the 3 minute documentary interview- but it'll be up here sooner or later.

My Art Star: Work in progress

2010-06-06T00:11:00.000-07:00

The documentary crew from UDOX, London- Leo and Dan came down a few weeks ago to shoot me at work and interview me as part of the Polo Jeans Co. Art Stars project. I've yet to see the final film but it will be on the RL website along with other artists' videos, photos and interviews.

They also took these photos of me at work and during the interview. The star has moved on quite a bit from this point but I'll try and stage my progress on this blog chronologically. :)

Locally, photographer Evan Collisson has been charting my progress and I'll post his pictures here soon. (I'm a narcissist what can I say).

Polo Jeans Art Stars : An Introduction

2010-06-05T23:48:00.000-07:00

I guess I haven't made it formal on my website yet but my biggest news this year has been that I was chosen as one of two artists outside of Europe to be one of the Polo Jean Co.'s 'Art Stars'. So I'm going to spare you my personal angle on this one - it would be exhausting - as this is a project that has taken up the better part of my last two months of free time. Here's the official press release:

Polo Jeans Co. is proud to present ART STARS, a showcase of work from 51 of Europe’s most recognized up and coming contemporary artists (NOTE: I DO NOT THINK I FIT THIS DESCRIPTION BUT I AM ONE OF THE 51 ARTISTS. THEIR WORDS NOT MINE). Inspired by the iconic American Star Spangled Banner and synonymous with the Polo Jeans Co. brand, the artists will create 3D pieces on stars made from the finest American denim. These will be displayed in select Polo Jeans Co. stores in key cities across Europe before coming together in a public exhibition in London in late 2010.

Representing Polo Jeans Co.’s core branding values, each young artist will be challenged to customize a canvas into a three dimensional star using an assortment of unique materials in combination with their practice to create their designs, including a variation of denim, replicas of the American flag, dyes, collage, bleach and embroidery. Beyond the shapes and sizes of the ART STARS, artists are only limited by their own imaginations in transforming the star and denim into a work of art that symbolizes their vision inspired by Polo.

Contemporary art and fashion aficionados will have the opportunity to own one of these exclusive Art Stars. All the stars created will be brought together in a public exhibition in London in late 2010 and auctioned in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust. Teenage Cancer Trust is a charity dedicated to improving the lives of young people with cancer between the ages of 13-24. Teenagers don’t stop being teenagers because they have cancer, which is why Teenage Cancer Trust builds specialist units in NHS hospitals, staffed by teenage cancer specialists. These units are designed for and by young people and aim to give teenage cancer patients the very best chance of a positive outcome whilst being as close as possible to normal life. State-of-the-art facilities keep patients occupied during long, and often grueling stays, whilst bringing teenagers with cancer together so they can support each other. Visit www.teenagecancertrust.org to find out more.

Artist: Stefan Strumbel

Artist: Delta

Artist: Case

Not an angel

2010-05-17T01:18:00.000-07:00

The third in the series of photos of me taken by the super talented Mansoor Bhatti...Featuring AED 15 wings from a kids' costume shop in Dragon Mart...fun times...

Fakie- A Dexhibition

2010-05-17T00:21:00.000-07:00

So I participated in the Middle East's first skateboard deck art show- which premiered at The Shelter last Thursday. 30 local artists each customized a maple wood board which went on sale on the 13th. I shared a sneak peek of my board on this blog a few weeks ago, and I'll be posting some proper pictures of my work, entitled 'Psychokitty' (inspired by my baby kitteh Polka) soon.

For now here are some pictures of the event at the Shelter. Fakie runs until the 27th of May.

Photos courtesy of FN Designs and TimeOut Dubai

Light Black

2010-05-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

Light Black is a series of photos taken by photographer and art director Mansoor Bhatti.

Credits:
Photographer: Mansoor Bhatti
Art Directors: Mansoor Bhatti and Diya Ajit
Wardrobe: vintage fur coat from Chickpeas
Model : Diya Ajit

Still more to come featuring vintage clothes from Chickpeas...

Mirmalek's Post-modern Bohemes

2010-05-02T23:12:00.000-07:00

My friend Ebrahim Mirmalek's dreamy imagery has often inspired me to make more use of my Diana F+. A few weeks ago he took these photos of me and my besties Natasha Carella and Tima Ouzden faffing around in a friend's garden after a failed night out trying to find a club sans crap 90s dance music. Needless to say these pictures will have our grandbabies thinking we were much cooler than we probably are...(ok well Natasha and Tima will probably pass).

Mansoor's magic part 1b...

2010-05-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

This series is called Kitsch and is the first of 4 that Mansoor and I are going to put out. I'll have the second series up here in a few days so look out for that!

Fakie Skateboard show preview

2010-05-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

so here's the board I've done for the Fakie show...top secret sneak preview...the show is on the 13th at The Shelter so come down!

Mansoor's Magic Part 1

2010-04-24T05:13:00.000-07:00

So my good friend Mansoor and I decided to get up early on a Friday morning and put our two art director heads together...except this time with him as Photographer and myself as the model. We ended up taking 1000 photos with three different themes and several wardrobe changes featuring clothes from dju*dju by Tima Ouzden(my fave local designer) and Chickpeas (my fave local vintage clothes supplier).
Mansoor is working on selecting and finalising around 30 images which we'll put out soon. But for now here are a few raw files from the shoot as a sneak peek!

Nokia Inside Music Documentary : Sound of Live

2010-04-10T14:27:00.000-07:00

Last year I posted a piece on this blog about UBIK and myself's participation in the Nokia documentary Inside Music: Sound of Live. After a long wait they've finally finished the film and it was launched with much live music, at an event by the same name, at Chi last night. Performances by Tim Hassall, Mike Ross and Juliana Down mixed in with DJ sounds from Zahra Soar created the setting for the launch screening of the 30 minute episode featuring the highlights of Dubai's local live music talent.
As you might remember, Vivek and I created the backdrop for Jonas Desai's segment live during the shoot. I expected us to be blurred blobs in the background of the segment but I've actually got over a minute of screen time and came home with the DVD to prove it. ;)

Garden Wall at The Shelter

2010-04-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago Vivek and I started working on a section of the wall in the garden at The Shelter at their second installment of uber popular networking event Geekfest. Initially Vivek and I were meant to complete the entire length of the 25 metre wall but alas, schedules not allowing and for lack of funds, the wall was eventually completed with various other artists at the recent Freshly Laced event.

Freshly Laced is a collective of forward-thinking DJs & music artists based in the U.A.E. They will be holding regular events showcasing the various elements of hip hop, and music spanning Disco, Soul, Jazz, progressive Hip Hop beats, Dubstep, boom bap Hip Hop, Afrobeat, Latin, Brazilian Beats, strange breaks and funky things.

Some of the DJ's who are part of the Freshly Laced collective include:

DJ Solo (Another Music)
DJ Lobito (Zulu Nation ME)
Mr Yeti (Ten Thousand Yen)

Here are some pictures of the completed wall at The Shelter...the highly detailed robotic horse body that previously belonged to my slime-headed girl was washed away by the rain...but nonetheless.

Thanks to Simone Sebastien for the pictures...

Box Wall pop up event at DIFC's Art Nights at the Gate Village

2010-04-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

So, a couple of other artists and myself were asked to participate in DIFC's Art Nights at Gate Village with a pop up art wall live event.

Art Nights @ Gate Village – is an arts focused initiative taking place in the heart of Dubai’s financial district – Gate Village; a contemporary urban area that’s home to a concoction of galleries, boutiques, restaurants and high-end cafes. Every month, Art Nights @ Gate Village combines elements of art, film, fashion, design and cuisine – through a variety of indoor and outdoor activities.

The box wall we created is a semi-permanent urban art style pop-up installation, designed by underground event specialist Simon Hunt. Live within the hustle and bustle of Gate Village, six of us Dubai-based artists constructed a wall of cardboard boxes (donated by Easytruck Removals) then proceeded to paint it in our unique styles. The production was recorded in time lapse format, compressing 4 hours of footage into 1-2 minutes- I'll be sure to upload that as soon as I get my paws on it. The artwork along with the film will be auctioned off for charity at the next Art Nights @ Gate Village.

Other sights, sounds and tastes of the 24th of March program included:

Opera Gallery
Exhibition Opening – Contemporary Orientalism
Under the patronage of H.E. Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer.

An exhibition of paintings by both international and emerging artists, presenting a broader vision of contemporary orientalism and what it stands for.

'Sweet City': A Sculpture by Gita Meh
Introduction by Janet Bellotto and Q&A with Dubai-based Iranian conceptual artist Gita Meh.

Gita Meh works with many mediums, from painting to installation, sculpture to poetry, photography to performance; in her attempt to touch all aspects of sensation and intellect in her viewers. She has often involved herself with food preparation and ritual, thus engaging taste, smell, and touch as well as sound and sight. Sweet City follows in this vein.

The Farjam Collection
Guided Tour of Iran Inside Out

Emilie Faure, Collection and Exhibitions Manager, gave a tour of the new edition of the groundbreaking exhibition Iran Inside Out. Since opening in New York, the show has travelled to Chicago and is being featured for the first time in the Middle East at The Farjam Collection in Dubai. Iran Inside Out explores the varied forms of artistic expression of young Iranian artists working today, both inside and outside of Iran, and challenges traditional notions of Iran and Iranian art. This edition featured a selection of the exhibition’s most arresting works alongside some of the finest examples of contemporary Iranian art drawn from Dr Farjam’s collection.

Cuadro Fine Art Gallery
Curatorial Tour of Sacha Jafri’s ‘Universe of the Child’

Curatorial tour with Bashar Al Shroogi, Director of Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, of Sacha Jafri's latest collection: Universe of the Child. These Large-scale works are inspired by the artist's extensive travels through the Middle East and South East Asia.

Cuadro unveiled this collection for the first time before its global tour in museums in over 12 cities of the world.

Sacha Jafri's Private Collection was also be shown for the first time worldwide. This extraordinary collection is comprised of the artist's most powerful works from his last seven collections (1998-2010). These works have until now been held by Sacha himself and never exhibited.

Artspace
Art and Cheese Tasting

Fine cheese was enjoyed while viewing the collection of works on display, including Zakaria Ramhani, Ayad al Kadhi and a sneak peak to the upcoming exhibition of Yousef Ahmed.

The Empty Quarter
This is Not a Love Song

An exhibition co-curated by Elie Domit & Mrs. Deane/Hester Keijser, featuring six emerging photographers and one common denominator: the current state of Palestine.

Villa Moda
In the spirit of Art Dubai & Art Nights, Villa Moda commissioned two very talented women to exhibit their works at their boutique - an international installation artist and a Lebanese jewelry designer. Patricia Millns who has shown in major international museums is doing a fashion inspired installation called “My friends” which explores fashion in terms of time & culture. Meanwhile the multi-talented Nadine Kanso (she is also an avid photographer) launched her latest “Bil Arabi” jewelry collection based on Arabic letters, but this season featuring colored stones creating a more abstract version of her traditional work.

nbx2010
Meet the artists: Mona Fares & Shamma Al Amri

nbx stands for nomad box: A 12 x 2.5m contained space that is actually a shipping container showcasing ground breaking concepts of art & design, while challenging the concept of the traditional gallery space.

ORDNING&REDA
The art of origami

ORDNING&REDA celebrates the traditional Japanese folk art of paper folding. Their very own origami specialist Elenita Yumang was on site constructing the origami bird and demonstrating some basic origami techniques.

Swedish brand ORDNING&REDA, whose name literally translates into ‘Proper Order’ offers products that are designed to alleviate clutter and mess in their consumers’ lives, through a wide range of high quality paper and storage products in classic Scandinavian design.

Taste of Zuma with Patricia Millns

Taste of Zuma with Patricia Millns was a Japanese inspired art display of hand made Kimonos and the first of a sequence of art installations with Zuma.The Kimonos were made using Zuma Menus and Brownbook Magazine covers.

Some photos of our box wall...

The MinD festival at DUCTAC

2010-03-23T06:33:00.000-07:00

MinD the gap since the last post. Also, mind the pun.

It's been a hectic week in the art world here in Dubai what with Bastakiya Art Fair and Art Dubai gracing our city this past week.

I was hoping to cover the events in detail so I'd have a nice juicy blog update for you...but alas I had a personal thing to deal with and missed the lot. :(

I did, however, make it to the MinD festival at DUCTAC where local artists were exhibiting their wares.

MinD is the first-of-its kind one week festival showcasing artwork produced exclusively by artists living and working in Dubai.

More than 25 artists featured in MinD, exhibiting artworks in the form of video installation, site specific installation, sculpture, photography, painting, performance and more.

During MinD DUCTAC also played host to Video Appart, a non-profit project aimed at providing exposure to, and for, emerging video artists worldwide.

I shot a selection of the work on display. You'll also spot a wall sticker by your truly and, oddly enough, a photo of me that another artist took of me over a year and a half ago while I was strolling around the mall. It's part of his candid 'mall series'.

Hopefully I'll update this post with names of the works and artists soon...

But for now...

The year so far...

2010-02-09T22:30:00.000-08:00

2010 seems to be blazing past me. So far I've been working on quotes for several live events, completing the re-branding of the production company I work for, and have a couple of new art projects in the works (possibly a solo show and some public murals). I've also started doing custom commissioned paintings, re-arranged my apartment, sleeping too little, eating too much chocolate and...well appearing in Grazia magazine.

There are a few things that need to be noted here: Firstly, my last name is Ajit and not Aijit. Secondly, a mild joke about arm-wrestling a granny for a handbag has been headlined, making me seem like a rabid, uncouth ditz. Also, I don't consider Paris 'the ends of the earth'. But anyhow, any PR is good PR.

Paris/Places and Peoples

2010-01-20T04:59:00.000-08:00

Siiigggghhhhh. Back to Dubai after a snowy, rainy winter special in the city of lights. That's Paris to you. After a random phonecall with an old friend who suggested I come down to spend new years with him and his friends, I find myself suddenly buying wool tights, borrowing leg warmers and culling stacks of Fuji polaroid film in preparation for probably the most spontaneous holiday I've ever taken. But boy am I glad I went. I met some wonderful people from the worlds of art, fashion and photography, spent hours walking the cobblestone streets in stupidly high boots, and found some great vintage and second hand fashion finds.

Anyhow.

I thought I'd use this space to do short profiles of the wonderful people I met...so let's start with my dear old friend...

Fabien Giraud
Ok so firstly Fabien isn't just any old friend. He is also my ex boyfriend from a staggering 7 years ago. Fabien is a multimedia artist based in Paris and has done shows at the Pompidou Centre and the Palais Tokyo in Paris as well as shows at prominent galleries in Australia, the US, New Mexico, Germany, Barcelona and Switzerland to name a few. He is soon to be doing a project with the Louvre in Abu Dhabi. Since 2007 he works with Raphael Siboni, while pursuing a personal artistic practice.

To quote wikipedia: Combining airsoft, tuning, hardcore punk and Guinness World Records, his work is on the borderline between art, pop culture and entertainment. Blending vernacular mass consumption, folk to pop, he tends to produce objects and complex events, often spectacular, that question the possibility of contemporary subjectivity. He works to amplify contemporary rituals, producing aberrant forms and a swollen, frightening vision of a futuristic entertainment culture.

Ahhhh.

Here are some images to go with that...

On my first night in Paris- one day before new year's eve... I went to a lovely dinner at the house of Jean-Max Colard. We were late so I was forced to silently suffer the pasta I was offered despite my gluten intolerance. However, Jean Max, his lovely wife Isa, and a great bunch of friends made up for the pain in plenty...

Jean- Max Colard
Once again from wikipedia (don't you love it when you can look up people you know?):
Jean-Max Colard, born in 1968, is a French art critic, curator and lecturer in French literature.
Jean-Max Colard is responsible for the arts magazine Les Inrockuptibles. He also works regularly for the magazine Artforum, the magazine 02 and is a columnist in the show Everything happens d 'Arnaud Laporte on France Culture.

While at the dinner I also met Olivier Babin...who, poor lad, Fabien had to kick out of his apartment so I could occupy it. Olivier, mortified at the state of the flat post debauched men living in it...promptly went out to buy me a big bunch of bright pink flowers. 'The ladies like the flowers' he told Fabien. They bloomed on new years morning and made my day.

What was I saying? Ah yes Olivier...

Olivier Babin
While Olivier's work may find its incarnation in heterogenous and digressive ways through painted bronzes sculptures, neon works, paintings, performances, it exists firstly as a "cosa mentale". The primal material he uses is language, and the most common forms of popular culture or art history he samples, distorts and mixes to organize a reflection upon time and the meaning of life. From Homer to Robert Smithson to On Kawara, Olivier Babin is interested in the sublime and the alternative figures of heroism, the weakness of artists and the force of art.

Recent Exhibitions
2007 « Airs de Paris » Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris « Some time waiting » Kadist Foundation, Paris 2006 « Notre histoire » Palais de Tokyo, Paris « Nobody and Soul » solo show Frank Elbaz gallery, Paris 2005 « The fifteen minutes show » Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam.

I also met one of the 'names' on the French conceptual art scene:

Loris Gréaud
Loris Gréaud’s projects and exhibitions are often the result of collaborations with scientists, geo-biologists, engineers, filmmakers, writers, sound and graphic designers. His varied background in music and cinematography provides an expanded framework for his frequently cryptic installations, which test both the given characteristics of the mediums he employs and the expectations of the audience.

New Year's night and I find myself at Fabien's close friend Alex's place along with some other wonderful souls who gathered round to eat plate loads of oysters, crab and assorted seafood wonders. Top of mind is one lovely lady who cracked all of our crabs with her high heels. How very fancy!

A bit about the host...

Alexandre Gurkinger
Is a French photographer who has done work for Stiletto, Vogue Paris, Wallpaper, Dazed and Confused and Yves Saint-Laurent. He's a brilliant portrait, documentary and fashion photography with a decadent style and ornately composed images. I thought I'd let his work speak for itself...

At the dinner party I spent most of my time chatting to a lovely person named
Julie Rousselet

Turns out Julie is a rising star on the European fashion design circuit with her newly started brand: 'flouzen'. Flouzen is a collection of unisex ties and squares made of the finest cashmere. They are so versatile and beautiful that it's no wonder these are the hottest things in fashion. Check them out. It's too bad I don't have a picture of Julie- she's a stunner. We stuffed our faces with prune pie and a delightful aged liqueur made from prunes that Alex's grandfather handed down to him- antique glass bottle and all. Some days later Julie and I made our way to a little vintage shop named Kiss Me Olga where I bought a 70s striped jumper dress before Julie has to run home to her cats.

The next day was spent curled up at home all afternoon poring over a book about the artist Robert Gober. A few days later I saw one of his famous 'drainhole' handmade sculptures while on a visit to the Palais Tokyo...I went with Fabien and the architect Max Turnheim... a bit about the show...

Le Palais Tokyo
CHASING NAPOLEON exposition
Featuring DAVE ALLEN / MICOL ASSAËL / CHRISTOPH BÜCHEL / DORA WINTER / GARDAR EIDE EINARSSON / DAVID FINCHER / TOM FRIEDMAN / RYAN GANDER / ROBERT GOBER / ROBERT KUSMIROWSKI / PAUL LAFFOLEY / TONY MATELLI / OLA PEHRSON / CHARLOTTE POSENENSKE / HANNAH RICKARDS / DIETER ROTH / TONY SMITH / JOHN TREMBLAY.

The official write up:
1977, Theodore Kaczynski – that does not reply again to the nickname of "Unabomber" – lives isolated in a small hut of the Montana in anticipation of "the collapse of the system technological". Paul Laffoley finishes The Renovatio Mundi, confined in the fifteen square meters of his workshop and Dieter Roth works to a long-term project: the photographic inventory of all the streets and the houses of Reykjavik (35.000 transparencies). The same year, the Community Reinvestment Act is voted, a law that introduces the subprimes in the bank system.

Interpretation wavering, value overthrow, position paradox… CHASING NAPOLEON takes act of a bérézina that puts in rout reality himself. After GAKONA and SPY NUMBERS, the electromagnetic ghost and the infra-mince, marc-olivier Wahler meets eighteen artists of which the works are as much instructions to subtract itself to the look and to take refuge itself in the margins of the visible one.

My favoruites of the show were the unabomber hideout, the Paul Laffoley pieces and of course the Gober drainhole. I also bought a lovely Dark Arts book by the fab Juxtapoz.

And a bit about my company...

Max Turnheim
is involved with computational and mathematical research, questions of urban density, philosophy and the ontology of architecture. He was one of the first architects to introduce generative computation of models a decade or so ago. I don't know much but it looks fascinating. He also has another project which is so rude it can't be spoken about here.

Max also introduced us briefly to his wife Gala, who Fabien told me is a self portrait photographer and also an art director. Check her out...

Gala Collette-Turnheim

There's been some art (and fashion!) happenings of late so will update the blog with those as and when they happen...

discoballbreaker #3

2009-07-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

I really need to fix my camera and take better pictures of my work! I'll put better pics up soon- this one taken with a webcam!

discoballbreaker is a music appreciation blog run by producer/blogger/media personality Simone Sebastian. She's recently begun to host music meets art house parties with DJ Solo and James Clar who you may know by now from earlier posts on this blog.
The third installation of discoballbreaker parties features cellophane and light 'people' installations' by James Clar, live visuals also by James Clar, sound by Simone and DJ Solo and 2 live murals- one each by UBIK and myself. We'll definitely be making an appearance at the next discoballbreaker event so keep an eye out for us!

The piece I created is called 'Slime Girls' Day at the Beach' and is inspired by a friend who has me wishing I was on a beach somewhere cooler. It's the largest solo piece I've ever done at 6.5 ft x 5.5 ft. It doesn't sound very big but trust me it is MASSIVE. It's currently dominating my living area although it's been reserved by a buyer so it shall soon leave me space for the next massive cardboard mural! :)

Sketch night sketches!

2009-06-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

Slime Head #2
Watercolor and pen on acid free paper.
A3 size

So in case any of you missed my post on the Sketch event held by FN Designs at Jam Jar...I'm bringing it up again. This is such a great community arts event that lets artists and non artists alike hang out in a great atmosphere, surrounded by creative materials and create whatever they want that they can then sell on the same night for AED 50 to 500.
Just to give you an idea of the things we're doing there- this A3 watercolor and pen doodle is what I created at the last Sketch event. I sold it to the lovely Sheikha Wafa for AED50/-. Just to let you know- all the doodles I do there will be sold for AED 50/- no matter how simple or complex. I want to keep my art cheap so that people will keep buying them. I like knowing that I can send a little piece of me home with someone and that it makes them smile, or reminds them of something or someone, or they just find it sexy. So come down and sketch at the Sketch event! Or just come down for a chat or to pick up one of my cheap doodles! :)

Free Time Fabulous

2009-06-28T12:11:00.001-07:00

Leather, feathers, lace and metal oddities. Sounds like a scene from a bad goth porn film. But this album features some of the crafts I do when I'm not working or painting. I've been making my own jewelry and decorating my clothes since I was a wee one so I thought I'd share some of it with you.

James Clar's Dust to Dust Installation

2009-06-27T23:45:00.000-07:00

Leave it to James Clar to venture into temporary street installations that cause no harm to the environment they are placed in. Basically it can't be labelled as vandalism. Sheer brilliance in this city where you get an AED 10,000 fine, jail for one year followed by deportation for public graffiti. So that's why UBIK and I stick to live events and commissioned pieces although doing temporary water murals on dusty surfaces a la Clar might be something to look into.

Noticing how dusty the construction gauze along the highway has become, he used cloth and water were used to wipe away the words "Dust to Dust".

A simple non-destructive art installation. Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. Nothing lasts forever, so we should enjoy what we have. Soon these words will disappear too.

Swallow by Ronaldo

2009-06-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

So. I got a new tattoo. This time it's a swallow on my left hand/wrist. I've always wanted a tattoo of a bird and I'm more interested in 'serious' tattoos these days- properly shaded, textured tattoos rather than the tribal and simplistic shapes I favored about 7 years ago when I first started getting inked. I have plans to add a tiger in a Japanese irezumi style, a fleur-de-lis and some calligraphy at some point. But for now I'm over the moon with my new art. :)
(PS- please note those ink smudges at the end of the bird's tail are not permanent! They are the tattoo-artists' sketch marking that haven't come off yet! ;)

Red Bull Lord of the Street- Battles in BMX/ Inline/Skateboarding & BBoying

2009-06-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

I'd really like to meet the genius marketing person at Red Bull. They really know how to immerse themselves in popular culture/subculture and create high brand association without having the ad media spend of say, Coke. While The Art of Can and The Flugtag are pretty established Red Bull events, the Lord of the Street is possibly their most engaging venture.
UBIK and I did a live mural at the event in the middle of the BBoys practise area, which, while strange, was actually a lot of fun. We had a permanent crowd of hormonal teenage boys spinning on their heads or contorting themselves into ridiculous shapes.
I expected the skateboarders and inliners to be the stars of the event but it was actually the BMXers and the BBoys that displayed the most insane talent. Most notable was BBoy Yufo from Sharjah who I plan to use in a photoshoot with Martin Beck this August. While he didn't win the Lord of the Street title he certainly was entertaining!
There are loads of photographs coming soon but here are a few to start with...

Candy Riot

2009-06-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

Candy Riot is a new art-meets-music concept hosted at The Jam Jar. The brainchild of Tim Hassall( there he is again!), the first edition featured Beat Antenna, Gandhi's Cookbook and of course Tim Hassall and The August Company. UBIK and myself provided a live mural at the event and there were canvases and painting supplies out back for those inspired by the music to create some masterpieces of their own.
The fun continued even after the event with ska playing out the back of a GMC truck and kids dancing in the parking lot while confetti fireworks were launched.
Candy Riot will continue after the summer and I imagine it's going to be huuuuuugggeeeeee.
Oh and for those who have been inquiring about the piece we created- it's been sold to Tim Hassall. We do however have other pieces- check out UBIK's 'Buy Cheap and Be' page on Facebook.

The Fridge- Hazy Sky 49°

2009-06-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

The Fridge is not just another warehouse in Al Quoz. Representing musicians and dancers in the city, the outfit hosts unique concerts apart from their 'day job' supplying musical talent and dancers for local events. In a city with an abundance of entertainment but a dearth of professional, concert level performances, there is now a platform where true lovers of music can come to watch performers put their souls on the line - challenging themselves by pushing musical boundaries whilst simultaneously expanding the horizons of those present in the audience.
I'd only recently heard of the events at The Fridge and so when they hosted a Harp & Dance performance titled Hazy Sky 49° I leaped at it. And so I found myself driving along the dusty roads of Al Quoz only to be met with a lofty metal space filled to the brim with art, music and dance enthusiasts. For once I didn't see the 'usual cool crowd'- this was a truly ecclectic bunch. Real conoisseurs I guess you could say. So I settled into my little chair and took in the delights of harpist Lucie Delhaye (who also danced a little) and dancer/ choreographer Alessia Amoni. Together with a projected photo montage by photographer Binu Bhaskar- the three put on a contemporary interpretative dance and sound piece that was more like some sort of performance installation than just another dance show. The artists called it an 'atypical performance'.

The theme around which the performance revolved was: ‘a day in the life of an artist’. This journey reflects the road that each and every one of us have to take in one way or another; the search for creativity, sifting the chaos for inspiration, the struggle to find clarity through discipline.

There were photographs taken at the event and I'd also like to share Binu's photo montage images here but I haven't any. My dear friend Melisa Mestiza- a Fridge employee and also an up and coming hip hop singer/songwriter from the UK, has promised to send some over so watch this space!

I can definitely say that the performance was one of the best things I have ever seen in Dubai and that the city finally has artistic performances of a calibre I thought was a long time coming to this part of the world. Perhaps I am finally part of a real artistic community? Let's hope so.

Tim Hassall & The August Company

2009-06-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I was introduced to singer/songwriter Tim Hassall by guitarist extraordinaire Niki Mukhi. It was at an 'Old School' costume party and I only remember that he introduced himself as a History teacher. Little did I know of the talent and passion this man has for music.

Tim recently won the title of the city's Best Alternative Act from Time Out Magazine. He was up there along with Beat Antenna for Best Indie Band and Jonas Desai (remember him from my Nokia music Doc post?) as Best Pop Act. Tim's music is kind of hard to describe...it has a unique sound: beautiful lyrics, wistful guitars, a peppering of harmonica...It sort of weaves between country/ folk, alternative and reggae sounds and singing styles but always having this signature sound somehow. Perhaps it's his harmonica, perhaps it's his signature hat, perhaps it's his catchy new single 'Man Inside'- whatever it is, Tim has quickly established himself as a tour-de-force of the music scene here.

When playing live he performs with his band : The August Company- comprising of Katy Hassall on Harp, Faye Roberts on keyboard and (sometimes) vocals and song-writing, Ammar Dajani on bass and James Sinclair on drums ( a little birdie told me he used to tour with Placebo).

Last week they supported British alternative band The Automatic at a concert at Alpha, at the Meridien Hotel. Putting on an energetic set for almost an hour that ranged from slower ballads like Swallowed Dry to the more up-tempo Man Inside, Tim Hassall and The August Company had the crowd on fire (one girl was literally holding her lighter up and waving it around a la woodstock!).

Definitely one to watch.

Galleries Galore at DIFC

2009-06-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

Ah. Trust me to love a little recess to a perfectly polished corporate art 'zone' with outdoor air conditioning. The truth is- DIFC's art zone actually houses some of the most serious art galleries in Dubai and about the only permanent International gallery : Opera. A friend and I took a stroll down...

CUADRO GALLERY

While Opera is my all-time favourite for it's collection of seriously quirky Latin American, Japanese and European art, I also enjoy Cuadro which is currently hosting graffiti legends Phil Frost, Futura and Stash's first foray into canvas pieces.

To be honest Futura and Stash's works were seriously disappointing...

But Phil Frost's cut-out faces and layered canvas techniques were fresh pieces that would look equally comfortable in a living room or gallery...(note the baseball bats hanging at the edge of the canvas'...perfectly camoflaged!)

There were also some really graphic pieces done by French artists Francois Semiramoth, Benedetta Segala and Muriel Napoli as part of Cuadro's exchange program with France entitled ' For Them' which donates the proceeds of the sales to Dubai Autism Centre.
Of course I can't forget the uber-realistic life-size wax sculptures of the tourist with a digital camera, security guards and the cleaning lady. Wish I knew the name of the sculptor. Help anyone?
And last but not least was the massive chess board with palm-sized bronze sculptures of Africans vs. Egyptians.

OPERA GALLERY

Opera was missing the massive Manga dolls this time- which I am assuming means they were bought or burnt for their racy appearances.

I love visiting Opera mainly to ogle the wide range of Latin American exhibits, as well as being able to touch and smell the paper and bronze of masters Picasso, Chagall and Botero. This time the work of Latin American artist Romero Britto's caught my eye. His cutesy-pie sculptures are to die for. They just make you happy! That's the only way I can describe the effect these cartooned pop-colored objets-d'art have on you! Absolutely adorable stuff. If you can afford 50,000 dirhams for one...

Federico Uribe makes sculptural art from everyday objects. His gorgeous busts make you wonder why you didn't think to hit the mega bucks by sticking nails, cardboard or pencil shavings all over wax models. But that said, they really are beautiful. Uribe's real masterpieces though are the 'pencil paintings' he created using actual color pencils to make up the 'pixels' of the piece- all at varying height so it has a 3-dimensional feel. I saw these at Opera a couple of months ago but didn't get time to post them...

Feng Zheng Jie's wall-sized airbrushed spooky techni-color pieces that also feature at the Saatchi Gallery are really astounding to look at. These are really striking pieces but they definitely aren't for everyone. One of the most impressive pieces has been hanging in the gallery since the gallery opened it's doors last years. It maybe, perhaps, a bit premature to introduce art of this sophistication to this market...

Den Hartog's balancing leopard was quite a mindf****. How does it balance?(Keep in mind that this is a solid bronze sculpture about the length of my arm.

And of course my favourite Gautier ladiiieesssss...

I could go on...but I won't. Well not for much longer anyway.

There was an extremely trippy piece there with a backlit luminecent blue light and a lace overlay on a holographic image of a woman's closed eyes. I could swear it moved we walked past it several times to make sure it wasn't some sort of optical illusion.

My favourite piece of the entire gallery though was a very 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' scribbly wall-sized piece without a sticker or placard bearing the artist's name. Tsk tsk.

SKETCH event@ Jam Jar

2009-06-15T07:10:00.001-07:00

"Sketch" is an evening of live sketching and art making and offers the local arts community a place to congregate, talk, create and be seen.

The event is proving to get more popular each session. This time around there were more artists and much better works on display than the first session a few weeks ago.

Live music by Shrimp Cocktail and Tim Hassall helped create the atmosphere and much juice was drunk and FN Design chocolates eaten.

I did a watercolor and marker pen doodle that got bought by Sheikha Wafa before I even hung it on the wall. Just to let you all know- I do this because I love to draw and not for the money, so if you'd like to buy a piece from me I sell all my drawings at a fixed price of AED 50/- at the Sketch event. So come by if you'd like a bargain! ;)

I'll be uploading a pic of the piece I did for the Sheikha (as soon as she scans it and sends it to me :)).

Antique Museum

2009-06-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

If there is a bargain to be found in Dubai then it’s almost certainly at Antique Museum just off Sheikh Zayed Road in the industrial area of Al Quoz. Don’t be daunted by the unfamiliar surroundings because this goldmine of goodies is well worth the visit. Welcome to a world of knick-knacks, souvenirs, traditional artefacts and (sometimes) authentic antiques. You walk through a maze of life-sized carved wooden horses and walk through a massive wooden door to enter a veritable cave of wonders. While some of the stuff there is typically tourist-oriented you really can find some real treasures in there, whether it's ship parts, moroccan lanterns or quirky bits and bobs that would make fantastic gifts..you'll find something in here for a song. The place is an absolute maze: room withint room within room, up and down tiny creaky staircases and with shelves stacked from floor to ceiling in corridors barely wide enough to walk through. Definitely worth a visit simply for the 'never seen before in Dubai' factor. I picked up some shells necklaces, a brass ship compass, an ornate hand mirror and some wooden hair ornaments. yesssssssss.

Antique Museum, Al Quoz Industrial Estate (04 347 9935). Open Sun-Thu 9.30am-8.30pm; closed Fri. Take the first right before Kanoo building, first right again, Antique Museum is on your right.