Horizontal Sounds 2020
2020–21
Scratches on paper
30 x 23 cm (closed); 137 x 23 cm (open); leporello
Artist’s Statement
Part of the series “Scratches”—abstract works of white paper that have no figurative subjects—Horizontal Sounds presents a field of view divided horizontally, somewhat reminiscent of musical staves.These extremely simple structured areas of white carefully convert the surface of a sheet into fine reliefs that are almost invisible at first glance.
Biography
Mohammed Kazem (born 1969, Dubai) lives and works in Dubai. He has developed an artistic practice that encompasses video, photography, and performance to find new ways of apprehending his environment and experiences. 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. 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 at the vanguard of conceptual and interdisciplinary art practice. In 2012, he completed his MFA at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia. In recent years, he has participated in several group shows at Jeddah Arts, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and New York, the Yinchuan Biennale, Sharjah Biennial, Gwangju Museum of Art, Fotofest Biennial, Houston and others. In 2013 he represented the UAE at the Venice Biennale with an immersive video installation entitled Walking on Water. His works are in the collections of the British Museum; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and New York; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Sharjah Art Foundation; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; Vehbi Koç Foundation, Istanbul; King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, Dhahran, among others.
Mohammad Kazem – Horizontal Sounds 2020
Quarantined in Dubai; For Cities Under Quarantine – The Mailbox Project