Leila Heller Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in the inaugural Art Week Riyadh, a new platform by Saudi Arabia’s Visual Arts Commission under the Saudi Ministry of Culture.
Presented under the theme At the Edge, this showcase brings together established and pioneering artists whose practices traverse time, materiality, and the human condition. Their works offer a poignant meditation on memory, resilience, and the reverberations of history in contemporary life, while also sparking discussions on the legacy of modernity and abstraction. Through sculptures and video projections, the display examines these themes across spatial, temporal, and material contexts, featuring works by Farideh Lashai, Sudarshan Shetty, and Reza Aramesh.
Highlighting the evolving artistic landscape of Saudi Arabia, At the Edge reflects the nation’s cultural heritage while serving as a catalyst for forward-thinking artistic discourse. Through distinct visual languages, the presentation navigates the intersections of tradition and innovation, personal and collective experience, and local narratives within a broader global context.
Farideh Lashai (1944–2013) was a pioneering artist whose five-decade-long career defied rigid artistic categorization, seamlessly blending painting, sculpture, installation, animation, and literature. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, she initially worked as a crystal designer at Riedel Studios and Studio Rosenthal, which later influenced her sculptural practice. Prior to her formal art education, she studied German literature in Frankfurt, an influence reflected in the lyrical quality of her work. Lashai’s art, characterized by poetic fluidity, has been exhibited in over 25 solo shows and prestigious international biennales, including the Biennale of Sydney, and the Ludwig Museum. Her works are held in major public and private collections worldwide, including LACMA, Centre Pompidou, The British Museum, and Sharjah Art Foundation, cementing her legacy as one of the most significant modern artists.
Sudarshan Shetty is a Mumbai-based conceptual artist known for his thought-provoking sculptural installations that challenge perceptions of materiality, movement, and cultural hybridity. Initially trained as a painter, Shetty shifted his practice entirely to sculpture and installation, creating enigmatic, often mechanized works that explore the tension between Indian and Western traditions, domesticity, and the ontology of objects. His distinctive approach juxtaposes materials, mechanics, and forms from culturally distinct spheres, rejecting conventional narratives and symbolism. Shetty has exhibited widely across India and internationally, with notable shows at the NGMA New Delhi, Centre Pompidou, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Biennale of Sydney. In 2016, he curated the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, further solidifying his influence in contemporary art.
Reza Aramesh is a London- and New York-based artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, drawing, embroidery, ceramics, video, and performance. Holding a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths University, London, Aramesh has exhibited in prestigious institutions worldwide, including the 60th and 56th Venice Biennales, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Breuer, Asia Society Museum, Maxxi Museum, and Tate Britain. His work engages with historical and contemporary media representations of conflict, transforming these narratives through sculptural reenactments featuring non-professional models. By stripping scenes of war from their original contexts, Aramesh exposes the tension between beauty and brutality, questioning the iconography of the subjected male body in relation to race, class, and sexuality. His work critically engages with the Western art historical canon, offering a powerful reflection on representation, violence, and the human condition.