Delfina Foundation presents the first UK solo exhibition by its former resident Farah Al Qasimi, made possible through the generous support of Abu Dhabi Festival.

Based between Brooklyn and Abu Dhabi, Al Qasimi’s still and moving image works vibrantly capture glimpses of everyday life and the entangled relationship between material culture and globalised societies. This exhibition comprises new photographs, vinyl wallpaper works, and a specially commissioned video, which coalesce to create a layered visual constellation.

The show takes its title from a computer error message that flashes up on Al Qasimi’s now defunct family computer. This machine connected the artist and her family to the world in the early days of dial-up internet, and until its recent malfunction was a portal for escape from reality, as a pirate, a gunslinging biker, or a tiny ball bouncing off the edges of the screen.

Abort, Retry, Fail is an index of attempts to transcend or deny the natural world through entering fictional ones that promise autonomy and disembodiment. Several of the photographs in the exhibition lay their gaze on gamers, their attention held by a screen beyond the photographic frame. They appear firmly rooted in the material world and yet are transported elsewhere, absorbed in fantasy realms of exploration, purpose, and play.

Farah Al Qasimi (b. 1991, ARE) lives between New York and Abu Dhabi. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Photography and Music from the Yale School of Art in 2017.

More information on the event can be found here.