Sarah Abu Abdallah's Khaleeji Gothic exhibition at Jameel Arts Centre explores Saudi urban anxiety

Sarah Abu Abdallah's exhibition 'For the First Time in a Long Time' at Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai presents five works from 2013-2019 exploring themes of boredom, urban consumption, and digital mutation. The Saudi artist gained recognition in 2011 with 'Saudi Automobile,' where she painted a wrecked SUV baby-pink to comment on Saudi Arabia's then-ban on women driving. Her video 'The Salad Zone' (2013) features surreal domestic scenes including a woman in a stockpot and schoolgirls fantasizing about Japan. 'The House That Ate Them Whole' (2018) uses three-screen installation with lurching cinematography to portray a house consuming its residents as metaphor for urban development. 'Trees Speaking with Each Other' (2019) features raised soil-beds with heirloom tomato vines, referencing disappearing farmlands around Qatif due to oil extraction. The 23-meter-long painting 'Bad Hunches' (2019) dominates one gallery with collaged personal snapshots and digital imagery. Works are displayed across three distinct gallery spaces including a sunlit room with drawings and live plants. The exhibition ran from 17 December 2019 to 20 April 2020, curated to mirror the casual, vlog-like aesthetic of Abu Abdallah's videos. Her work blends personal memory with cultural critique through irreverent, slice-of-life approaches to Saudi contemporary experience.