Noor Al Suwaidi (Arabic: نور السويدي; born 1981) is an artist and curator from the United Arab Emirates.
Biography
Al Suwaidi was born in 1981.[1][2] She grew up in Abu Dhabi.[3] She went to the Al Khansaa government school in Al Buteen.[4] She has three sisters and one brother.[4] It was clear she had artistic talent from a young age, talent which was nurtured by her father in particular.[5] She graduated in 2004 with a BA in Studio Art from the American University.[6] In 2009 she graduated from Kingston University with an MA in Curating Contemporary Design.[6] She was the first person from the Middle East to study on her MA course.[4] Prior to studying for her MA she worked for Dubai Holdings.[7] She is a part-time lecturer at the College of Art and Creative Enterprises at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi.[6] As a curator of contemporary art, she specialises in the work of other Emirati artists.[6] She is a founding member of the Cultural and Arts Authority in Dubai.[4] In 2017 she was invited by the Louvre Abu Dhabi to discuss Bellini'sMadonna and Child.[8]
Al Suwaidi has described how her figurative paintings can reflect Arabic calligraphy.[1] Her artistic practice focusses on work in paint and collage.[7] In 2011 her work Bare with Me was sold at Christie's as part of a wider sale of Arab, Iranian and Turkish contemporary art.[1] She has taken part in a number of artistic residencies in London, Rome and Berlin.[9] In 2011 she held her first solo exhibition in London at the Cork Street Gallery, which was entitled Like Coral I Create Clouds.[9] A number of her works are held in the collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation, including paintings Landscape of Colour and Dreamers, as well as the sculptural work The Head.[10][11][12]
