DIFC – Dubai Sculpture Park: Tales Under The Gate
From the Gate Building to Gate Avenue, DIFC, Dubai
07 February – 30 September 2023
DIFC is once again transforming into an open-air art gallery as DIFC Sculpture Park marks its return for the second edition this year, from 7 February until 30 September 2023 under the theme, ‘Tales Under the Gate’.
Following its resounding success last year, the 2023 edition of DIFC Sculpture Park will host an array of modern, futuristic, innovative and cutting-edge artistic masterpieces of established and independent artists representing diverse art movements from around the world.
From the enduring surreal visions of Salvador Dali and the monumental installations and sculptures of Anthony James to the cheeky pop artworks of American artist Jeff Koons and featuring the works of local and regional artists in a variety of mediums, this year’s Sculpture Park will be the most exciting to date.
The exceptional and immersive artistic experience is in line with Dubai’s cultural vision to make art accessible for all and consolidate the emirate’s stature as a global destination for culture, innovation and talent. Works of well-established galleries as well as new and upcoming artists will also be on display.
Kalliopi Lemos participates in the exhibition Tales Under The Gate with her sculpture “Reaching Up High” (2009). The work was initially presented in her three part exhibition “Navigating in the Dark”, that focused on the passage through life. The exhibition was curated by Maria Marangou and took place in Athens, Crete and London in 2011. This sculpture represents fertility and the birth of life itself, as it is a seed that has sprouted out of the ground and is reaching up for the light.
“The work encourages the viewers to contemplate on their own onward journey, while it conveys the blessing of new life. Fulfilling the promise of the great egg, a coiling, flexing tentacle of growth emerges from a ribbed seed, whose shell has broken open to reveal the kernel. The artist allows us a glimpse of that sacred moment when her intuitive sculpture breaks through into consciousness and strives inevitably towards the firmament and light. Above and below are joined, dark and light unite in the birth of the new.”
– Text by Jim Fitzgerald, Jungian analyst, 2011
