'The world meets here': Custot Gallery opens in Dubai's Alserkal Avenue

“Dubai is ready for what we do,” exclaims gallerist Stephane Custot as we sit on a sun-drenched terrace at the Royal Mirage Hotel Dubai the day before his new 700-square metre gallery space opens to the public.

With a broad focus on contemporary fine art and large-scale sculpture, the Custot Gallery Dubai will present major works by leading artists from Europe, the US and the Far East. His opening exhibition includes work by 14 artists displayed throughout the airy spaces of the gallery.

Some of them have been shown for a few days at previous Christie’s auctions in the Emirate, others not at all. “Galleries in Dubai are understandably mainly specialists in art from the Middle East. No one is showing these kinds of artists,” Custot explains. “I spotted that there was a gap to fill, so I jumped in. It was an entirely intuitive decision.” 

Born in Paris, Custot started his gallery career there in the late 1980s after a run-in with Vera Wang. In 2005, he relocated permanently to London, which is still his main base and the home of his gallery, Waddington Custot. Located on Cork Street, it is in the traditional heart of London’s art district just around the corner from the Royal Academy.

The gallery is well respected on a global level, participating each year in art fairs such as Art Basel and TEFAF Maastricht. Their roster includes major artists of the 20^th century: Picasso, Warhol, Matisse and Rauschenberg, and leading British artists such as Peter Blake, Henry Moore and Patrick Caulfield, as well as contemporary practitioners such as Ian Davenport and Peter Halley. They also represent the estates of artists such as Jean Dubuffet and Barry Flanagan. His ambition is to show the best of international art in a state-of-the-art environment.

The gallery is a lesson in style and sophistication. He invites me to a private dinner that evening as a chance to meet six of the exhibiting artists; the Belgian architect of the space Francois Marcq and the group of collectors and supporters he has amassed in his short time in the Emirate. It feels like a European affair, with a magician on hand to entertain and astonish guests, and a female singer tackling Lou Reed while accompanying herself on the guitar.

The nine-metre-high ceilings above pristine white walls help to provide hanging space for monumental artworks and the 200-square-metre office mezzanine is exquisite. As soon as you walk through the giant metal door, you are faced with a space with enormous potential. Custot will hold just three or four shows a year and does not want to plan his programme too far in advance.

The gallerist is willing to adapt, to learn from and respond to the new community he is joining. He believes that dialogue is crucial for a sustainable art market.

The programme for the opening day included a public conversation between British artist Marc Quinn and British curator Ali MacGilp, based at Maraya Arts Centre, Sharjah. Neighbours Sven Mueller and Sonia Brewin of SVENM, a boutique architecture and design consultancy setting up in warehouse H79, attended the talk.

Mueller was impressed by the gallery design, describing it as "an optimal space to view contemporary art, with minimal distractions". Brewin, a graduate of the Slade School of Art, London commented: "It is a treat to have an artist of the calibre of Marc Quinn coming to the avenue and talking about his extraordinary practice." 

One of the original Young British Artists, Quinn has two works in Custot Gallery’s inaugural show: a sculpture in bronze,The Origin of the World (Cassis madagascariensis) Longitudes displayed directly on the floor, and a circular painting The Eye of History – Desert Perspective hung above. He describes the shell as a sculpture about time: “It feels ancient, like a fossil, but the polished front reflects the present moment.”

He is fascinated by the natural world, “that such a beautiful artistic expression has been made by a creature that doesn’t know about art makes one think: is art discovered or invented?” Talking through his process, we learn that the sculpture has been produced using a 3D scanner, taking one month to complete. He also x-rayed the shell in order to obtain the internal structure and cast that in bronze to ensure it keeps to the right shape.

The artist has created versions in different sizes; one displayed at the Venice Biennale was big enough to crawl into. “When I’m making art I’m making it for people today,” says Quinn. Talking of the connection he feels when viewing artworks from ancient Egypt in the British Museum, he says: “As an artist it’s important to reflect the world we live in. You can be communicating with people who haven’t been born yet.”

Other standout works in the opening show include sculptures by conceptual artist Bernar Venet who has recently been granted a lifetime achievement award by the International Sculpture Centre in New York, and paintings by Fabienne Verdier which merge Chinese calligraphy and abstract expressionism. The mesmeric Maze by Frank Stella has been used on publicity material, but in the flesh it is even more luscious. The geometric painting from 1966 is made up of three primary and three secondary colours, and the segments create an optical illusion together.

Custot maintains a close relationship with his artists, assisting them with new productions and printing publications about their work. He wants to bring all of these elements to his Dubai gallery.

“Dubai is more international than ever,” Custot explains. “There is a whole generation of Emiratis who have studied and worked abroad and want to see things on the level they have experienced in places such as London and New York happening back at home.”

Indeed the entire arts complex which Custot Gallery joins this March was conceived by an Emirati national, Abdelmonem bin Eisa Alserkal, who studied in the US and returned to the UAE to work in real estate. His family are long-standing patrons of the arts and so it was natural for him to combine his two interests in the creation of the region’s most prominent arts hub, Alserkal Avenue.

Launched in 2007, the area has recently doubled in size with its new extension and is the destination to see cutting-edge contemporary art in the city.  

Other new spaces to have opened in the last six months include the Leila Heller Gallery from New York, El Marsa from Tunis, a new gallery for Dubai's The Third Line and the Jean-Paul Najar Foundation, an important private collection of European and American abstract art, all in state-of-the-art designed spaces.

Alserkal was inspired by areas such as Shoreditch in London and the Meatpacking district in New York, but wanted to establish a destination that worked specifically for Dubai.

“As a home for dreamers, visionaries and creative leaders, Alserkal Avenue creates opportunities for us all to break new ground and stimulate new thinking – locally, regionally and internationally," says Custot. 

There is an eclectic mix of residents such as the region’s first black box theatre, an independent cinema and pop-up retail and food and beverage outlets, as well as a number of community pop-up events including outdoor yoga and parkour.

As well as renting warehouses to galleries, the avenue provides space for not-for-profit artists’ studios, has a programme of public art commissions and supports related projects abroad, most recently a radio project for the Venice Biennale and funding performances at Asian Art Week in New York.

As well as being a part of the Alserkal community, Custot is well aware of institutional openings in neighbouring Abu Dhabi. The imminent completion of the Louvre Abu Dhabi has clearly been a big impetus for him to open his new gallery in Dubai now, as he believes the new outpost of the world-famous institution will “alter the mechanics of the art scene, give it greater substance”.

That remains to be seen, but for now there is certainly plenty of substance in the Dubai arts scene and the Custot Gallery is a welcome addition to the growing number of world-class art galleries in Alserkal Avenue.

‘The World Meets Here’ runs until 7 May 2016 at Custot Gallery Dubai, Unit No I-84, Alserkal Avenue, Street 6A, Al Quoz 1. [email protected], +971 4346 8148