21 ARTISTS AND A BIENNIAL | MOHAMMED KAZEM

Mohammed Kazem, Directions,(Standing on Mingcui Lake), 2016, wood on water, Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist

Mohammed Kazem
b. 1969, Dubai | Lives and works in Dubai

Portrait of Mohammed Kazem, 2012. Photo by Sofia Dadourian. Courtesy of the artist

A PIONEERING
CONCEPTUAL ARTIST,
MOHAMMED KAZEM
USES OVERLOOKED
REMNANTS OF
THE EVERYDAY
TO MEASURE AND
NAVIGATE GLOBAL
TRANSFORMATIONS.

He works primarily with video, sound art, photography, found objects and performance art.

Mohammed Kazemm in the studio, 2019. Courtesy of the artist

Mohammed Kazem scratching on paper. Courtesy of the artist

EDUCATION
2012 Master of Fine
Art, University of the
Arts, Philadelphia
1998 Painting
Workshop, Edinburgh
College of Art,
Edinburgh
1991 Al Rayat Music
Institute, Dubai
1984 Painting,
Emirates Fine Arts
Society, Sharjah

Mohammed Kazem, Collecting Light 2017 No (2) A, Inkjet color print on Hahnemuhle paper, 50 x 70 cm. Courtesy of the artist.

Kazem was a member of the Emirates Fine Arts Society early in his career and is acknowledged as one of the “Five,” an informal group of Emirati artists – including Hassan Sharif and Abdullah Al Saadi – at the vanguard of conceptual and interdisciplinary art practice.

Mohammed Kazem, Kissis (South Korea), 2016 Inkjet color print on Hahnemuhle paper, 70 x 50 cm. Courtesy of the artist

The foundations of his work are informed by his training as a musician, and Kazem is deeply engaged with developing processes that can render transient phenomena, such as sound and light, in tangible terms. Often positioning himself within his work, Kazem responds to geographical location, materiality and the elements as a means to assert his subjectivity, particularly in relation to the rapid pace of modernisation in the Emirates since the country’s founding.

Mohammed Kazem, Tongue, 1994 (detail), from a series of 45 gelatin silver prints mounted on five corrugated boards, 43 x 43 cm each board. Courtesy of the artist

The Dubai-born artist Mohammed Kazem is one of the most important representatives of contemporary art – and not only in the United Arab Emirates, where he is considered a shooting star.

Mohammed Kazem, Directions (Steps), 2011-2013, Inkjet colour print, 70 x 50 cm , Diptych. Courtesy of the artist

Mohammed Kazem, Directions (RAW DATA), 1999-2013, generative art animation, 60 minute loop, Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist

Ever since his sensational participation
in the 55th Venice Biennale (UAE
Pavilion, 2013), his name has become
known throughout the world.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 Collecting Light, Cadoro-Zentrum ur
Kunst und Wissenschaft, Mainz, Germany
2018 A Prime Activity, Gallery Isabelle
van den Eynde, Dubai
Ways of Marking, Aicon Gallery, New York
2017 Receiving and Collecting, Gallery
Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai
2014 Sound of Objects, Gallery
Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai
2014 Memorising by Means of Observing,
Taymour Grahne, New York
2013 Raw Data, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah
2013 Walking on Water, The National
Pavilion of the UAE at the 55th Venice Biennale
Directions, New York University, Abu Dhabi
2010 Directions, University of the Arts, Philadelphia
1994 Salwa Zeidan Gallery, Abu Dhabi
1992 Public Library in Hor Al Anz, Dubai
1987 Emirates Fine Arts Society

In 2019 Dorothea van der Koelen celebrates 40 years of activity since she opened her fir art gallery in Mainz at the age of 19.
The exhibition celebrates these goals, whose common thread is the shared enthusiasm for the past successes (Was), the present ones (Is) with a look towards the future (Will).
The exhibition includes artworks from: Mohammed Kazem, Lore Bert, Daniel Buren, Turi Simeti, François Morellet, Arne Quinze, Günter Uecker, Joseph Kosuth, Heinz Gappmayr and Fabrizio Plessi.