Mohammed Kazem

Acrylic on Scratched Paper

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Mohammed Kazem, Acrylic on Scratched Paper, 2013, Pink ink on scratched paper, 30.48 x 22.86 cm (each), Art Jameel Collection. Photograph courtesy of the artist and Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde.

Artwork Details

Artist

Mohammed Kazem

Title

Acrylic on Scratched Paper

Date

2013

Medium

Pink ink of scratched paper

Dimensions

30.48 x 22.86 cm (each)

Credit Line

Art Jameel Collection

Work Description

This ongoing body of work, where he scratches and marks onto paper, started in the 1990s. For Acrylic on Scratched Paper, Kazem uses a pair of scissors to create bumps, depressions and reliefs that are scratched into cotton paper. This process relates back to his interest in music, which Kazem calls the ‘sound’ of the object: a multiplicity of interwoven light across the surface of the object; the materiality of the paper as it peels; and the movement of his hand as it glides across the paper with each scratch, producing a different sound depending on the pressure of the hand against the paper and the direction of the scratches against the paper. 

Artist Biography

Mohammed Kazem (b.1969) lives and works in Dubai, UAE.

Mohammed Kazem’s practice encompasses video, photography and performance and is largely developed in a response to the geographical location, materiality and the elements to assert his subjectivity, particularly in relation to the rapid pace of modernization in the Emirates since the country’s founding. Mohammed is acknowledged as one of the ‘Five’, an informal group of artists at the vanguard of conceptual and interdisciplinary art practice in the country.

In addition to representing the UAE at the 55th Venice Biennale (2013), his many solo exhibitions also include Cadoro-Zentrum ur Kunst und Wissenschaft, Maine (2019); Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai (2018 & 2017); Aicon Gallery, New York (2018); Taymour Grahne, New York (2014); Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah (2013); and University of the Arts, Philadelphia (2012). He has participated in the Annual Exhibitions of the Emirates Fine Arts Society since 1986, as well as the Sharjah Biennial (1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2015); Havana Biennial (2000); Asian Art Biennial, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2002); and the Singapore Biennial (2006). Mohammed also co-curated the 8th Sharjah Biennial (2007). His works are held in the collections of the British Museum, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and New York, Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Sharjah Art Foundation, Barjeel Art Foundation among others.

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