‘Second Hand’ brings together works from the Art Jameel Collection that explore materiality in contemporary art practice. Focusing on different modes of expression through sculpture, installation, assemblage, drawing, photography, painting and performance, the artworks challenge the way we perceive material and our understanding of what the material represents.

The exhibition includes local, regional and international artists, highlighting the universal approach to material- and object-based practices. The artists explore traditional and non-traditional approaches to ‘making’, from manmade to machine-made, often incorporating banal and everyday objects into their work to construct new forms and ideas.

The materials represented in the exhibition have been repurposed, transformed or reworked, sometimes preserving a representative likeness, and at other times resisting the category of purely representational. The artists investigate the process of making, the qualities of their chosen materials, and the ways in which these attributes are interpreted and understood through social, political, cultural and economic narratives.

‘Second Hand’ includes works by 18 artists and collectives: Adel Abdessemed, Haig Aivazian, Abbas Akhavan, Diana Al-Hadid, Doa Aly, Fayçal Baghriche, Walead Beshty, Vikram Divecha, Jason Dodge, Zahrah Al-Ghamdi, Bita Ghezelayagh, Mohammed Kazem, Azade Köker, Cinthia Marcelle, Keita Miyazaki, Slavs and Tatars, Moffat Takadiwa and Mario García Torres.

‘Second Hand’ is the first group exhibition drawn from the Art Jameel Collection.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication that can be purchased from the Art Jameel Shop.