Exhibition on Islamic Digital Art with and for the Grenfell Community. AYAH - Sign is an exhibition on Islamic Digital Art hosted and co-curated by FLUX and Sara Choudhrey at Maxilla Space, W10. AYAH - Sign presents a selection of works by major digital artists Zarah Hussain, Ben Johnson and Sara Choudhrey, illustrating digital practice in contemporary Islamic art.

Exhibited alongside these works is a collaborative artwork created by the Grenfell Community for the public. This piece was created over the course of a weekend in free workshops run by FLUX and Sara Choudhrey at ACAVA’s Maxilla Space. During the free workshops we invited local communities to explore new forms of artistic practice by focusing on geometric and floral patterns inspired by Islamic art and architecture. The resulting collaborative installation is shown.

See below for more information about the artists and artworks on show in the exhibition:
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Sara Choudhrey

Sara Choudhrey applies a hybrid approach to art-making, utilising patterns inspired by Islamic visual culture and beyond. Combining research interests in digital technology and Islamic art, her artistic practice is a means to communicate theoretical and conceptual themes surrounding space, place, border and order. 

The geometric patterns in this series reference decorative art from historical Islamic architectural sites in Syria and Pakistan, sites currently in ruins or in the process of restoration. By bringing this subject to the fore, questions can be raised regarding our interactions and responses to changing spaces.

​After obtaining a BSc in Multimedia Technology and Design, Sara Choudhrey completed an MA in Digital Arts from Camberwell College of Arts and recently passed her PhD in Digital Islamic Art at University of Kent.  Sara has exhibited her work in various locations across the UK including the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, at Digital Futures in association with the V&A in London and also internationally at the Sharjah Art Museum in the UAE.

​www.sarachoudhrey.com/

​The Grenfell Community - AYAH

​AYAH is a collaborative installation artwork produced with the local Grenfell community who were invited to take part in free workshops hosted by FLUX at Maxilla Space. Members of the community learnt about traditional Islamic art and architecture with artist Sara Choudhrey and were taught how to construct a proportional hexagon and equilateral triangles using a compass and ruler. They then explored how these shapes could be tiled to produce geometric patterns, where the underlying structure could be used to make their own floral motifs inspired by those found adorning iconic monuments from across the Islamic world. The colourful floral motifs were then digitised and used to build the final animation for the AYAH – Sign exhibition for public viewing; creating a shared experience through art that belongs to and reaches all.

​Zarah Hussain

​Zarah Hussain works at the intersection of science and spirituality, combining contemporary digital art with rigorous training in traditional hand-drawn Islamic geometry. Her work encompasses infinitely looping animations made with code, interactive apps, painting and sculpture.
 
Zarah has exhibited at a number of UK locations including a solo show at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and public commissions at the William Morris Gallery, the Barbican and the Royal London Hospital. She has also successfully exhibited an interactive animation as part of the Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival, UAE.








zarahhussain.co.uk

​Ben Johnson

​​Ben Johnson was born in Llandudno, Wales, in 1946. He studied at the Royal College of Art and has lived and worked in London since 1965.  Ben is perhaps best-known for his photorealistic paintings of architectural spaces and cityscapes, resulting in detailed panoramas of Hong Kong, Zurich, Jerusalem, Liverpool and London. Ben has also brought focus to the decorative arts of Islamic architectural sites through his intricate paintings of the Alhambra in Spain, and The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, illustrating a deep appreciation and application of sacred geometry.

www.benjohnsonartist.com/