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Art investment in the MENA region is evolving rapidly, blending cultural insight with strong market growth.

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ADAI champions artists from across the Middle East and North Africa

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ADAI works with artists across the Middle East and North Africa to ensure their work is seen, understood, and contextualized. Representation on ADAI means supporting artists through curated visibility, research, and digital presentation, connecting their work to audiences, exhibitions, and broader cultural conversations.

Artists featured on ADAI are not exclusively signed or commercially represented— instead, ADAI provides a platform to showcase your practice, highlight your perspective, and situate your work within the evolving landscape of MENA art.

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Often referred to as the era of Al-Ruwad (The Pioneers), this period marks the birth of modern Arab art. Many of these artists were sent on government-sponsored scholarships to study in European capitals like Paris and Rome. Upon returning home, they blended Western academic techniques (such as Impressionism and Realism) with local subjects, landscapes, and the emerging concept of national identity.

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Driven by globalization, the diaspora experience, and new technologies, Arab art in this era expanded well beyond traditional painting and sculpture. It became heavily characterized by video, photography, installation, and performance art. Operating on a global stage, these artists tackle complex themes of post-colonialism, migration, memory, borders, and gender identity.

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Hend A. Al-Mansour

Verifiedicon Verified

Saudi Arabia / United States of America

The Bluest Eye

2020 • Other

$1,700.00

VAT and other taxes are not reflected in the listed pricing.

Ships from Staint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Final quote & tracking provided after purchase. Duties/taxes may apply.

Under review

Hend A. Al-Mansour

locationUnited States of America

download-artwork Export Artwork PDF

About the artwork

This black-and-white self-portrait, cut in a hexagonal form and mounted with gilded edges, pays homage to Toni Morrison's novel of the same title and inhabits her protagonist Pecola Breedlove's dream of blue eyes. Like Pecola, I am a dark-skinned woman with brown eyes, yet I paint my eyes sea-blue, as Pecola aspired to. It not only addresses the hierarchy embedded in color but also speaks to the agony and despair of wanting the impossible. The compressed, intimate composition reflects how imposed ideals of beauty distort and reshape identity, asking viewers to confront the entanglement of beauty with power and the fragile threshold between desire and delusion. Hidden against the wall on the reverse is a second painting — a discovery awaiting whoever brings this piece home.

Medium: Other
Materials: Mixed Media on Paper
Style: Portrait
Size: 26 x 22 x 1.50
Frame: Artwork not framed
Availability: Available
Classification: Unique
Series: Not a part of Series
Signature: Signed
Previous sale: N/A

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