NOMAD ABU DHABI: UAE
Olivier Varenne is pleased to announce his first participation in NOMAD, joining forces with Adam Knight Fine Art and Brodie Neill for the inaugural edition of NOMAD Abu Dhabi — a new chapter in the celebrated travelling fair dedicated to collectible design and contemporary art.
Hosted in the decommissioned Terminal 1 of Zayed International Airport (a 1970s modernist icon designed by the architect of Paris Charles de Gaulle, Paul Andreu), the first Abu Dhabi edition of NOMAD brings its signature blend of art and design to an unexpected setting.
Our presentation will bring together paintings by Clifford Possum, one of Australia’s most significant Aboriginal artists; woven sculptures by Chiharu Shiota, tracing the delicate connections between memory and matter; and innovative design pieces by Brodie Neill, known for his sustainable craftsmanship and sculptural precision.
Our presentation will bring together paintings by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (1932–2002), one of Australia’s most celebrated Aboriginal artists. A pioneering figure of the Western Desert painting movement, Clifford Possum transformed traditional Aboriginal iconography into expansive narratives of country, ceremony, and ancestral knowledge — works that bridge Indigenous cosmology and contemporary abstraction.
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (1932–2002) is one of Australia’s most celebrated Aboriginal artists. A pioneering figure of the Western Desert painting movement, Clifford Possum transformed traditional Aboriginal iconography into expansive narratives of country, ceremony, and ancestral knowledge — works that bridge Indigenous cosmology and contemporary abstraction.
Brodie Neill (b. 1979) is an award-winning Australian designer whose work fuses advanced craftsmanship with a deep commitment to material innovation. From reconstituted ocean plastics to salvaged timbers and metals, Neill’s pieces reflect a belief that beauty and responsibility can coexist — each object a meditation on form, process, and environmental consciousness. For NOMAD Abu Dhabi, he presents a selection of limited-edition works that exemplify his signature approach: fluid, architectural, and rooted in a sense of renewal.
Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota (b. 1972) explores memory, presence, and the invisible connections that bind us through an unmistakable material language of woven threads. Using everyday materials such as yarn, paper, and found objects, she creates intricate installations and sculptures that trace the space between body and mind, between what is remembered and what is lost.
In dialogue with Clifford Possum’s mapping of ancestral landscapes and Brodie Neill’s transformation of reclaimed matter, Shiota’s works embody the poetics of materiality: how form can hold emotion, history, and the unseen ties that shape our shared human experience.