Frieze Abu Dhabi 2026

Stand C18

19—22 November, 2026

Manarat Al Saadiyat, Saadiyat Cultural District, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Pearl Lam Projects Presents One Object After Anotherat the Inaugural Frieze Abu Dhabi 2026

Abu Dhabi—One Object After Another unveils artworks from fixed, authoritative meanings, dissolving formal certainty into contingent encounters. Five seminal contemporary abstract artists—Qin Yufen (b. 1954, China), Su Xiaobai (b. 1949, China), Wang Dongling (b. 1945, China), Yang Jiechang (b. 1956, China), and Zhu Jinshi (b.1954, China)—deconstruct the “absolute physicality” of their respective media on a two-dimensional surface, placing a core focus on temporality and the dialectic between chaos and order.

Rejecting representational narratives, individual practices prioritise process over form, foregrounding duration, accumulation, and erasure within the physical body of the work. Responding to the Gulf’s subjectivities in relation to its arid landscape, this project proposes a universal dialogue on how matter retains time, how force shapes form, and how abstraction articulates the invisible order governing natural existence. Through paint, ink, lacquer, and Xuan paper, individual artworks bear the actions of gesture and deliberate restraint, contextualising abstraction as a universal process of achieving spiritual balance.

Known for her sound and textile installations, Qin Yufen has exhibited at major European museums and art institutions worldwide. She began creating abstract paintings on Xuan paper in 1983. Over more than four decades, Qin has produced numerous minimalist works on paper, most of which have remained in her studio and are rarely seen by the public. Her work bridges traditional Chinese calligraphy and xie yi (spontaneous, freehand) techniques with contemporary abstraction, employing expansive brushstrokes, rich ink saturation, and vibrant mineral pigments on large-scale rice paper. Qin regards the persistence and concealment of time as essential to art: whether a work is shown or withheld ultimately determines its fate.

Su Xiaobai transforms traditional lacquer from a decorative surface into a monumental, meditative presence. By repeatedly applying, sanding, and layering lacquer onto curved panels, he strips the medium of its utilitarian history to emphasise illusion, depth, and luminosity. The resulting surfaces, gently worn yet structurally coherent, record the quiet passage of time through erosion and restoration, embodying an equilibrium between restraint and materiality while stabilising the surface into a meditative, poetic form. The works capture fleeting emotions in a timeless manner.

Wang Dongling’s large-scale abstractions position ink as a medium of atmospheric flux rather than inscription. Surrendering rigid compositional control, Wang harnesses gravity, surface absorption, and bodily movement to generate compositions while preserving kinetic energy within the picture plane. His improvisational practice expresses the contingency that shapes all natural environments.

Rooted in the Chinese diaspora, Yang Jiechang reimagines traditional ink painting by combining Daoist wisdom with Ludwig Wittgenstein’s analytical rigour. His monumental paintings presented at the Centre Pompidou’s landmark 1989 exhibition, Magiciens de la terre, challenge both rigid academic conventions and Western stereotypes in pursuit of complete artistic freedom. The making of his Hundreds of Layers of Ink series is guided by the Daoist principle of “advancing through retreat”. Abandoning colour and figuration, Yang spends days repeatedly layering pure black ink on paper. This meditative endurance turns dense blackness into a shimmering metallic surface, drawing luminous light from darkness. On view at Frieze Abu Dhabi is One Brushstroke Yubu, where Yang draws on yubu, a Daoist ritual dance. Through gestural marks and textured ink surfaces, he explores different metaphysical concepts. The act of making becomes a means of probing hidden psychological nuances, paying tribute to ancient Chinese cosmology as a vital tool for contemplating our shared human destiny.

Zhu Jinshi approaches painting through Eastern philosophy, departing from figurative modelling and Western modernist colour theory. His elusive calligraphic forms extend beyond the brushstroke, inviting viewers to contemplate three-dimensional space and void. More than a decade of pigment research has informed his distinctive technique: oil paint is piled, squeezed, scraped, and left to slide, creating a spatial choreography that appears to defy mechanics. Each work bears a singular, poetic title drawn from historical memory or present reality, resisting the conventions of abstraction.

Pearl Lam, Founder of Pearl Lam Projects, says, “What these five artists share is a conviction that a single brushstroke or texture can tell an entire story. Whether through painted lines, layered lacquer, or thick oil paint applied with a trowel, these works communicate beyond words. Abu Dhabi has a rich history of celebrating calligraphy and visual culture, and I wanted to see how these artworks resonate with its audience.”

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