Sevil Dolmacı Dubai greets summer with Pop of Time group exhibition

Sevil Dolmacı Dubai is currently presenting Pop of Time, a summer exhibition centering on contemporary aesthetics and cultural rhythm of artists around the world. On view till September 9, the show combines the visual language of the digital age with neon colours, graphic imagery, and nostalgic elements. The featured artworks invite the viewer on a journey through time, set against the intense summer atmosphere of Dubai.

In the curated selection, pop aesthetics are not merely a surface thing; it is deliberately intentional in attitude. Featured artists are Ebru Döşekçi, Sabine Boehl, Hiba Kalache, Jacopo di Cera, Matteo Mandelli, Sinem Sezgin Bozkurt, Emre Namyeter, Onur Hastürk and Deniz Özuygur.

The exhibition also blends contemporary visual language with evocations of collective memory, while simultaneously engaging with critical issues at the forefront of contemporary art discourse. Pop of Time is a visual record of this era and a contemporary narrative shaped through pop.

Matteo Mandelli's Cyber Carpets.

Ebru Döşekçi was born in Ankara (1972), and has been creating sculptures since her graduation from the Faculty of Communication at Ege University, Turkey. She received her Master’s degree in Plastic Arts from Yeditepe University and has participated in numerous exhibitions and fairs in Turkey and overseas. Her works are included in various private and public collections. The broad variety of vibrant structures of Sabine Boehl`s conceptual work refer to different cultural and historical epochs. She works with glass beads that are sewn onto canvas, with every single coloured bead serving as an informational sign.

She is drawn to structures that meander, which simultaneously move and stand still. Boehl`s works have wide-ranging frames of reference, from ancient ornaments, grotesque embellishments, modernism and textile and fashion design, and range up to American abstraction. Hiba Kalache is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice spans installation, drawing, painting, sculpture and interactive projects. Kalache draws on her daily life for her materials, process and content. She interrogates the separation between the private and public spheres, more specifically what she calls “the banality of daily rituals”.

Emre Namyeter's untitled work.

She has exhibited in Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul, New Orleans, Oakland, San Jose (USA), San Francisco, Tehran, Athens, London and Paris. Her work has also been shown at art fairs including MENART fair, Art Dubai, Abu Dhabi Art, Drawing Now (Paris), and Gwangju Art (South Korea). In 2017, she taught fine arts at the Lebanese American University.

Jacopo Di Cera (b. 1981, Milan, Italy), is a contemporary photographer and digital artist who treats photography not as a window to the world, but as a tactile, sensory encounter with it. From migration and memory to tourism and tradition, Di Cera’s photographs are less about documentation and more about resonance — about holding space for feeling in a world that rarely slows down. In 2016, Di Cera introduced the idea of Photomaterism or photography that refuses to stay flat. Photomaterism insists that a photo can be more than an image; it can be an object, a presence, a tactile thing you feel as much as you see.

“Art, to me, is a passage — a point of contact between what exists and what could be. I don’t offer answers, I spark questions,” says Matteo Mandelli. “Art is never comfortable, but it is always necessary. With the gift of seeing beyond the horizon, the artist has the duty to reveal new perspectives, lighting the way to explore yet undiscovered worlds.” Sinem Sezgin Bozkurt (b. 1985), is an interdisciplinary artist who creates figurative paintings and textile works. She focuses on the persistent lack of representation of women in contemporary society. Her goal is to create a new “personal reality” that reflects common female experiences and evoke a sense of empathy. She foregrounds feminine elements by integrating handcrafting techniques into her works.

Artwork by Emre Namyeter.

Emre Namyeter (b. 1984, Istanbul), uses the paint he creates on his own, to make multiple layered abstract sculptures. Onur Hasturk (b. 1983, Mersin, Turkey) specialises in the art of classical Ottoman miniature painting. In his work, he utilises the cultures of Islam and places them in new conversations with the art of the West, from Henri Matisse to Andy Warhol. Deniz Ozuygur (b. Istanbul) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans sculpture, photography, video, and ceramics. She often incorporates unconventional materials such as fuse beads, baby clothes, and domestic objects. Her practice explores themes of gender, identity, and labour, frequently subverting traditional craft techniques and familiar forms, to challenge societal norms.

Ember by Emre Namyeter.

Located in the heart of the Dubai Design District where art, design, and fashion meet, Sevil Dolmacı Dubai is a contemporary space that embodies the white cube concept with single space, high ceilings, and large white walls. The gallery strives to bridge the gap between the western art world and the Middle East. Sevil Dolmacı, who has an academic background, completed her Master’s and Doctorate studies on art history and attended courses on contemporary art at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. She worked in various institutions in London such as the Saatchi Gallery and Tate Modern Museum. She has long been providing consultancy services to Turkey’s important art collections, and has undertaken important projects such as the DEMSA Group Art Consultancy and Museum Project, St. Regis Hotel Project, Demirören Group Art Consultancy, Kemer Country Golf Club Sculpture Park Project and Kabakçı Collection Art Consultancy. Sevil Dolmacı also offers consultancy services to private collections, galleries and artists.