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Georgina Wilson-Powell
hits the studio of artist UBIQto discover what’s behind thedetailed layering of his work
Street
spirit
I
’m not a street artist. I’m an inspired-by-the-street artist,” says UBIQ. This young Indianartist has a good point. Dubai is not a cityknown for its underground street art in thesame manner that many other cosmopolitancities are. Its artists at work in this eld are morecommonly known as muralists, due to the fact thatmost of their work is either commissioned by cor-porations looking to inject a sense of youth cultureinto their brands, or entertained by the more cutting edge arts spaces in town such as the JamJar Gallery.It’s in these interior spaces that most ‘street’ art inDubai is created.A burgeoning part of the arts world elsewhere,street art — a combination of drawing, grati, sten-cilling and even stickers — has captured the imagi-
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nation of many young people, whofeel it oers more of a voice theycan identify with than traditionalart forms. It has a universality thattranscends upbringing, national-ity and religion, often combining pop culture and visual references with more underlying political orpersonal statements. Once seen asanti-establishment, street art nowshares public gallery space withmany other previously left wing art movements such as surrealismor modernism.UBIQ has another word for him-self. Graphillustist (graphic de-signer / illustrator / artist). Broughtup on a mix of cultures and having lived in Dubai for a large part of hislife, including the last four years;conversely his work is made upsolely from marker pens.“I love working with markers,but it came from the cost factor! InDubai, decent spray paint is reallyhard to nd and really expensive.I didn’t have any money so I usedcheap markers, it’s amazing what you can do with them. People arealways surprised when they ndout all I’ve used is markers.”UBIQ is always doodling, alwaysdrawing, and it’s these doodlesthat form the basis of his work which is often drawn straight ontobits of wood that he has found. Thematerials he works with give him aunique appeal and also make himas valid a Dubai artist as anyoneelse — his work is the direct resultof his local surroundings.“I wouldn’t say I’m an Indian art-ist for instance,” he says. “My workis about me and there are a lot of inuences that go into making me who I am, from Dali to Banksy.”Holed up in a small studio spacecarved out from his dad’s ware-house in Sharjah, UBIQ drawsconstantly. It’s pretty remote com-pared to the centre of Dubai, butit suits him. “I’m here all the time
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