When it comes to fine arts, luxury, and culture, one could not lead with a finer representative than Sotheby’s. The auction house specialists educate, inspire, and share their wisdom on the breadth of art and objects that pass through Sotheby’s salerooms. The Dubai office in DIFC is no exception. Celebrating art as a platform for dialogue and discovery, Sotheby’s Dubai brings us closer to the artists and visionaries who shape our world and senses, through curated exhibitions and private sales, events, and talks. Such offerings reflect the spectrum of Sotheby's extensive services and reinforce the house’s role as not just an observer but an active participant in the grand conversation of arts and culture. Beyond the auction room, Sotheby’s Dubai is a catalyst for the rapid growth of the region’s art scene, championing artists from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf. Its galleries are an important gateway for cultural exchange, learning, and discovery, mapping the diverse and rich artistic heritage in this cultural space.
Exploring Identity, Movement, and Culture Through Art
Sotheby’s Hot Spots selling exhibition is an homage to the cultural ecosystem of the UAE and the artists who continue to enrich the art scene here. It is also a great opportunity to start or add to a collection of distinctive works that bring forth deeper themes of human movement, cultural attachment, and globalisation. Showcasing artists from across the Middle East and North Africa, working across disciplines, the exhibition bridges new dialogues between the galleries' represented artists. The gallery turns the spotlight onto emerging and established artists, showcasing their vision through the lens of the works that they champion and presenting them to collectors on the ground and through Sotheby’s international platform.
From hand embroidery artist Margaux Derhy to Hashel Al Lamki’s Endless Love oil painting, the show is as much a cultural heritage, as it is a personal narrative of great talent.
Running until the 10th of March, the event is the first collaborative exhibition between Tabari Artspace and The Third Line, offering an evolving representation of the regional artistic landscape. Serving as a platform for artists to share their stories and heritage with the world, Hot Spots adopts a commercial vernacular, drawing inspiration from the vocabulary used in travel marketing and infused with the language and codes of advertising.
Voices of the Region: Artists Redefining Contemporary Expression
Margaux Derhy – Déjà Magicienne (Already a Magician)
French-Moroccan artist Margaux Derhy’s pieces are a narrative of contemporary embroidered art that resulted from a unique collaboration between the artist and ten women she trained in sophisticated embroidery techniques. The delicate precision of Margaux Derhy’s embroidery creates subtle variations in colour and texture that mirror the depth of painted surfaces. Her signature use of blank faces shifts the viewer’s focus to posture, clothing, and spatial composition, exploring themes of identity, presence, and cultural belonging within the broader context of contemporary Middle Eastern and North African art.
Derhy’s work extends beyond aesthetics, exploring tradition and social impact while preserving and elevating embroidery as fine art and creating sustainable income for women with limited access to traditional employment. This fusion of artistic innovation and social engagement shapes a new visual language that is deeply rooted in regional heritage but also resonates globally.
Hashel Al Lamki – Endless Love (oil paint)
Emirati artist Hashel Al Lamki’s works span painting, sculpture, digital media, and large-scale public installations. Rooted in conceptual enquiry, his art explores themes of migration, globalisation, and urbanisation, reflecting the evolving relationship between humanity and environment. Sustainability is central to his works, with a commitment to upcycling and the use of natural materials to minimise waste. With thought-provoking compositions, Al Lamki challenges perceptions of place and identity, offering a nuanced dialogue on the interconnected forces that shape contemporary landscapes. In Endless Love, the artist depicts a major landmark in Al Ain – the Tawam roundabout with its monumental sculptures of horses. Hashel’s composition evokes a majestic horse that rears up against a bright red sky, a symbolic colour characteristic of sunsets in Al Ain.
Almaha Jaralla – Focal Point (acrylic and oil on canvas)
Abu Dhabi-based Emirati visual artist Almaha Jaralla observes living environments in her works as highly personal portraits, placing the focus of her paintings and photographs upon the modern history of her native surroundings. Jaralla is deeply connected to the architectural vernacular of her environment, offering a nuanced perspective on the Gulf’s evolving landscape across different moments in time. Through a considered use of colour theory, she wonderfully moves through the intricate interplay of sociocultural dynamics and ancestral histories that have shaped her experience of homeland.
Sotheby’s presence in Dubai brings three centuries of history and expertise to the region’s cultural landscape, driven by increased interest and demand from regional clients on Middle Eastern art. Through exhibitions, mentorship, and engaging programmes, Sotheby’s Dubai continues to nurture visionary innovation and support pioneering artists during their artistic journeys. Each artist shown in the Hot Spots exhibition has their own creative process and story to share with the audience. Sotheby’s Dubai provides a clean slate on which such artists can make their mark on the world.
