Efie Gallery hosts works of contemporary artists in The Shape of Things to Come

Efie Gallery is currently presenting (Oct. 11 – Jan. 10, 2026) The Shape of Things to Come, an exhibition which brings together painting and sculpture by leading contemporary artists, including El Anatsui, Iman Issa, Abdoulaye Konaté, Adam Pendleton, Yinka Shonibare and Carrie Mae Weems.

They are all recognised for their conceptually rigorous and innovative practices. The show is curated by Japan-based American curator Dexter Wimberly who says that “at the heart of this exhibition lies the belief that art can reflect the complexities of a rapidly changing world. These artists push the boundaries of their mediums, using bold colour, unexpected textures and unconventional materials to capture the transformations shaping contemporary society. Their work is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of art in turbulent times.”

Internationally revered artist El Anatsui is renowned for his intricate metal sculptures and transformative use of simple materials such as bottle caps, printing plates, and cassava graters. He brings his perspective on sustainability and cultural heritage through works that weave together themes of history, identity, and environmental consciousness, offering viewers a tactile and visually compelling experience. Iman Issa is known for her politically engaged conceptual sculptures. In her ongoing series Heritage Studies, she reimagines historical artifacts as geometrically abstract, minimal forms accompanied by interpretive texts. Issa employs conventional museological tools such as vitrines, plinths, captions, labels and vinyl text, to construct displays for objects and narratives that do not mark a specific time or place.

An installation view of the works.

The series explores the relationship between history, memory, language and objects, questioning how artifacts resonate with and are repurposed in the present. Abdoulaye Konaté is acclaimed for his textile-based installations using woven and dyed clothes, materials native to his homeland, Mali. Konaté’s abstract and figurative tableaux, such as Resistance (2025) a large-scale 9-metre wide work, explore both aesthetic language and diverse socio-political and environmental issues. Referring to the West African tradition of using textiles as a means of communication, he harmonises the global issues with an intimate reference to his own life and country, conveying stories of struggle and triumph.

Adam Pendleton, a central figure in contemporary American painting, continuously redefines the medium as it relates to process and abstraction. Upending linear compositional logic, Pendleton’s paintings are created by a distilled layering of gesture, fragment and form that mirrors the cacophony of the contemporary experience. On view are recent paintings from Pendleton’s Black Dada and We Are Not bodies of work. Yinka Shonibare’s work examines race, class and the construction of cultural identity through a sharp commentary on the tangled interrelationship between Africa and Europe and their respective economic and political histories.

A Hybrid Mask by Yinka Shonibare.

His Hybrid Mask series, which is on view, fuse traditional African mask forms with references to Western art history; he uses his signature Dutch wax fabrics to question cultural identity, hybridity, and the legacies of colonial exchange. Carrie Mae Weems is a widely influential artist whose work gives voice to people whose stories have been silenced or ignored. Works from the artist’s 1993 series Africa are presented, where Weems photographed structures in Ghana, Senegal and Mali, exploring the ways that gender and power are expressed in architecture, and recording vestiges of the slave trade.

Using the language of folklore and storytelling, the series marked the beginning of Weems’s investigation into how buildings and spaces can embody dominance and control - a theme that she has returned to in later work. The Shape of Things to Come presents a dialogue between artists responding to the shifting realities of modern life including political upheaval, technological change, cultural exchange and environmental crisis. The works offer sharp reflections on the global moment, reinforcing art’s role as a tool for insight and change.

Dexter Wimberly is an American curator based in Japan. He has organised exhibitions in galleries and institutions including the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City; Standing Pine in Tokyo, Japan; Bode in Berlin, Germany; Lehmann Maupin in London, UK; The Harvey B. Gantt Center in Charlotte, North Carolina; and The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco, California. His critically acclaimed 2022 exhibition, Black Abstractionists From Then ‘til Now at Green Family Art Foundation in Dallas, included works by 38 prominent artists such as Frank Bowling, Theaster Gates, Rashid Johnson, David Hammons, Rick Lowe, Alma Thomas and Jack Whitten.

Yinka Shonibare's Hybrid Mask.

Efie Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Dubai specialising in the representation and advancement of artists of African origin, both from the African continent and its global diaspora. Since its inception in 2021, the opening of its permanent space in 2022 and relocation from Al Khayat Avenue to Alserkal Avenue in 2025, it has established itself as a global platform for some of Africa’s most significant artists. Efie enables and supports cross-cultural exchange between Africa, the Middle East and beyond. The gallery has a residency programme that facilitates collaborations with local artists, institutions and community members, supporting artists in the narrative and vision of their work. Efie Gallery aims to create a vibrant ecosystem for contemporary African art in the UAE.

Its space also displays the gallery founders’ collection of rare vinyl and shellac records from around the world, celebrating the intersection of art and music. Efie is the Twi – spoken in south Ghana - word for ‘home’, addressing the notion of belonging and how it can be determined by culture, history and identity. The gallery was founded by Ghanaian family Valentina, Kwame and Kobi Mintah.