Everything Would Appear To Man, As It Is, Infinite. The title and subscript from Michael John Whelan’s framed print on the second floor of Athr’s 1500-square-meter gallery space in Jeddah encapsulates the ambitious group show “The Language of Human Consciousness.” The exhibition—curated by collector and Athr’s co-founder Mohammed Hafiz, closely assisted by Jumana Ghouth—was planned to launch during the holy month of Ramadan this summer. Coyly sidestepping the figurative (frowned upon in conservative Islam), the exhibition takes a surveying stab at the vast world of geometry in art, from the sacred to the profane, featuring an eclectic range of works. The exhibition oscillates between the mystical and the crude, the minimal and the decorative, the currency of symbols, geometrically speaking, and the prime (symbolic) value of exhibition making in a city that is, in terms of art institutions, emerging. It follows a metronomic order of display, giving off a serene yet homogenous feel. As one approaches individual works more closely, associations and pairings draw imaginary lines that crisscross the abounding void between the art-lined walls of immaculately white and concrete cube spaces. Six-year-old Athr dropped the signifying “gallery” from its name on the occasion of this immense show of 39 artists—icons of …