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. 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.
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, Abdullah Al Saadi, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, and Hussain Sharif- at the vanguard of conceptual and interdisciplinary art practice. In 2012, he completed his Masters in Fine Art at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia.
EDUCATION
2012 Master of Fine Art, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, USA
1998 Painting Workshop, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, Scotland
1991 Al Rayat Music Institute, Dubai, UAE
1984 Painting, Emirates Fine Arts Society, Sharjah, UAE
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Directions, Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany
2020 Infinite Angles, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai, UAE
2019 Collecting Light, Cadoro-Zentrum Fur Kunst und Wissenschaft, Mainz, Germany
2018 A Prime Activity, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai, UAE
2018 Ways of Marking, Aicon Gallery, New York, USA
2017 Receiving and Collecting, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai, UAE
2014 Sound of Objects, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai, UAE
2014 Memorizing by Means of Observing, Taymour Grahne, New York, USA
2013 Raw Data, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE
2013 Walking on Water, The National Pavilion of the UAE at the 55th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
2013 Directions, New York University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2010 Directions, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, USA
1994 Salwa Zeidan Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE
1992 Public Library in Hor Al Anz, Dubai, UAE
1987 Emirates Fine Arts Society, Sharjah, UAE
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Participation in the Annual Exhibitions of Emirates Fine Arts Society since 1986
Participation in Sharjah Biennial in 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2015
2024 Visions of Beauty, La Galleria Dorothea van der Koelen, Venice, Italy
2024 Rest, Gallery Isabelle, Dubai, UAE
2024 The Circle Was a Point, The Foundry, Dubai, UAE
2023 Public Art Abu Dhabi, Manar Abu Dhabi, Samaliyah Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2023 In His Own Shadow, Arter, Istanbul, Turkey
2023 Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations, The building of the Permanent Mission of the UAE to the UN, New York, USA (Upcoming)
2023 CURATED BY - WHERE TO NOW?, Galerie Krinzinger Schottenfeld, Wien, Austria
2023 In the Heart of Another Country: The Diasporic Imagination Rises, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
2023 Silent Hands, Hayy Arts, Hayy Jameel, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2022 Black and White in Dialogue, Cadoro-Zentrum Fur Kunst und Wissenschaft, Mainz, Germany
2022 Manifesto of Fragility, 16th Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art, Lyon, France
2022 In the Change of Time, La Galleria, Venice, Italy
2022 Collecting and Receiving, FLAG Studio, Cincinnati, USA
2022 Stories of Paper, Louvre, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2022 Portrait of a Nation II: Beyond Narratives, commissioned by ADMAF, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2022 The Light in Between, Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2021 Between the Sky and the Earth: Contemporary Art from the UAE, Middle East Institute (MEI) Art Gallery, Washington DC, USA
2021 Art Here 2021, Louvre, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2021 Seeing the Invisible, Led by Jerusalem Botanical Gardens and Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Cape Town, South Africa
2021 Terra, Sustainability Pavilion, EXPO 2020, Dubai, UAE
2021 Milestones, La Galerie Dorothea van der Koelen, Venice, Italy
2021 Seeing the Invisible, San Diego Botanic Garden, Encinitas, California, USA
2021 Papier, Kunstverein Bamberg, Hamburg, Germany
2021 Seeing & Perceiving, Ithra, Saudi Arabia
2021 Unsettled Objects, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
2020 I Love You Urgently, 21 39, Jeddah Arts, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2019 21st International Biennial of Art Santa Cruz De La Sierra, Santa Cruz De La Sierra, Bolivia
2019 Second Hand, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, UAE
2019 Was. Is. Will be. 40 Years of Gallery, La Gallaria Dorothea van der Koelen, Venice, Italy
2019 M Woods x The Dubai Mall, Pavilion 2, Fashion Avenue, Dubai Mall, Dubai, UAE
2019 The Illusion of Summer, Dorothy W.C. Lawson Reed, Jr. Gallery, University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
2018 The Monochrome Revisited, Jean-Paul Najar Foundation, Dubai, UAE
2018 Letters to a Young Muslim, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2018 Attached Beside Beyond Architecture, La Galleria Dorothea van der Koelen, Venice, Italy
2018 From Barcelona to Abu Dhabi: Works from the MACBA Art Collection in Dialogue with the Emirates, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2018 (Un)conscious: A series of small serendipities, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai, UAE
2018 Night Was Paper and We Were Ink, Barjeel Art Foundation, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE
2017 Hajj: Memories of a Journey, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2017 Gateway: Line, Abu Dhabi Art, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2017 No to the Invasion: Breakdowns and Side Effects, Hessel Museum, Bard College, New York, USA
2017 Jerusalem Lives (Tahya Al Quds), The Palestinian Museum, Birzeit, Palestine
2017 But We Cannot See Them: Tracing a UAE Underground 1988-2008, NYUAD Art Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2017 The Creative Act: Performance, Process, Presence, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, UAE
2017 Is Old Gold?, Dubai Community Theatre and Art Centre, Dubai, UAE
2017 Beloved Bodies, Barjeel Art Foundation, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE
2016 Residuals, and the Anthology of Narcissism, Mandalay Hall, Kochi, India
2016 For An Image, Faster Than Light, Yinchuan Biennale, Yinchuan, China
2016 But a Storm is Blowing From Paradise: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa, Guggenheim New York, New York, USA
2016 Portrait of a Nation, Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2016 What is it?, 1x1 Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2016 Imperfect Chronology: Arab Art from the Modern to the Contemporary (Mapping the Contemporary I), Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK
2016 Do It [In Arabic], Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
2016 1980-Today: Exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates, The Flying Saucer, Sharjah, UAE
2016 White Cube... Literally, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai, UAE
2016 In Search of Lost Time, Brunei Gallery, London, UK
2015 Barjeel Art Foundation Collection: Imperfect Chronology, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK
2015 A Prologue to the Past and Present State of Things, Delfina Foundation, London, UK
2015 1980-Today: Exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
2015 Towards the Future, 35 Years of Gallery, La Galleria Dorothea van der Koelen, Venice, Italy
2015 Sharjah Biennial 12: The past, the present, the possible, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
2015 Nice Drawings, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai, UAE
2014 /seconds., Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
2014 Fluid Form II, Arab Contemporary Art, Busan Museum of Art, Busan, South Korea
2014 Sky Over the East-ADMAF, Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2014 Modes and Methods-Google House, JW Marquis Hotel, Dubai, UAE
2014 Songs of Loss and Songs of Love, Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, South Korea
2014 Sky over the East: Works from the Collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2014 View From Inside, Contemporary Arab Photography, Video and Mixed Media Art, Fotofest, Houston, Texas, USA
2014 Over-Look-Over, Empty10, Dubai, UAE
2013 Poetics and Meanings, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai, UAE
2013 Emirati Expressions: Realised, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2013 La Route Bleue, Boghossian Foundation, Brussels, Belgium
2013 MinD/Body, Dubai Community Theatre & Arts Centre (DUCTAC), Dubai, UAE
2013 Die Quadratur der Kreises, Islamic Cultural Centre, Wolfsburg, Germany
2013 In the Mirror of Reality, La Galleria Dorothea van der Koelen, Venice, Italy
2013 Soundless, Empty10, Dubai, UAE
2012 Bundling Future, Crane Arts Centre, Philadelphia, USA
2012 Arab Express, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2012 Asia Serendipity, PHotoESPANA, Madrid, Spain
2010 Peripheral Vision, Barjeel Art Foundation, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE
2010 Dropping Lines, Salwa Zeidan Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2010 Fluid Form I, Korea Foundation Cultural Center, Seoul, South Korea
2010 Vis Roboris - Group exhibition with artists from The Flying House, AB Gallery, Lucerne, Switzerland
2009 ADACH Platform for Visual Arts at the 53rd Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
2009 Contemporary Emirati Art, Salwa Zeidan Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2009 When Ideas Become Form, La Galerie Dorothea van der Koelen, Mainz, Germany
2008 Season of Art, DIFC, Dubai, UAE
2008 The Flying House, Creek Art Fair, Al Bastakyia, Dubai, UAE
2008 Dubai Next, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany
2008 Selected UAE Contemporary Artist Expo, Zaragoza, Spain
2007 The Masters, Royal Mirage, Dubai, UAE
2007 Dubai Dubai, Total Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2007 Tashkent Biennial, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
2007 Self-Representation in the Arabian Gulf, Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts (VCU), Doha, Qatar
2007 7.U.A.E Contemporary Art, Dubai Community Theatre & Arts Centre (DUCTAC), Dubai, UAE
2007 Portrait Exhibition, Total Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2006 Belief, 1st Singapore Biennale, Singapore
2005 Languages of the Desert, Kunst Museum, Bonn, Germany
2004 Line Exhibition, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE
2003 Numbers-Signs-Time, La Galerie Dorothea van der Koelen, Mainz, Germany
2002 Dhaka Biennial, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2002 5 U.A.E, Ludwig Forum for International Art, Aachen, Germany
2000 Closer to Each Other, the 7th Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba
2000 The Contemporary Arts of the Arab World, Darat al Funun-The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman, Jordan
2000 Emirates Identities, French Cultural Centre, Dubai, UAE
1998 Portrait, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE
1998 The 7th Cairo International Biennial, Cairo, Egypt
1998 U.A.E Contemporary Art, L’Institut du monde arabe, Paris, France
1997 U.A.E Artists, French Cultural Centre, Dubai, UAE
1996 The Six, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE
1995 Emirates Arts, Sittard Art Centre, Sittard, Germany
1994 Five Artists, Emirates Fine Arts Society, Sharjah, UAE
1990 Exhibition of the Emirates Fine Arts Society in the Soviet Union, Moscow, Russia
Muscat Youth Biennial, Muscat, Oman
AWARDS
2003 First prize for installation, Sharjah Biennial
1999 First prize for installation, Sharjah Biennial
1990 First prize for painting, Muscat Youth Biennial
COLLECTIONS
The Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Expo 2020, Sustainability Building, Dubai, UAE
King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Museum Ritter Collection, Waldenbuch, Germany
Jameel Arts Center, Dubai, UAE
British Museum, London, UK
Solomon R Guggenheim, New York, USA
Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco, USA
Kadist Art Foundation, Paris, France
Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE
Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France
Sittard Art Centre, Sittard, Germany
JP Morgan Chase Collection
Deutsche Bank Collection
Cleveland Clinic, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Vehbi Koc Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey
BIBLIOGRAPHIES
Kazem, Directions, 2024, Edited by Dorothea van der Koelen, Dr. Dorothea van der Koelen
Mohammed Kazem, Collecting Light, 2019, Edited by Dorothea van der Koelen, Dr. Dorothea van der Koelen
Mohammed Kazem, 2013, Edited by Reem Fadda, Damiani
RESIDENCIES
2018 Artist in Residence, University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
2017 Artist in Residence, Shangri La: A Museum of Islamic Art, Culture and Design, Honolulu, Hawaii
2016 Pepper House Residency, Kochi, India
2016 Maraya Art Centre’s Artist in Residence, Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, Seoul Art
2016 Space, Geumcheon, South Korea
2014 ArteEast Watermill Residency, The Watermill Centre, Long Island, New York, USA
2011 Artist in Residence, Boda Gaya, Bihar, India
2010 Artist in Residence, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, USA
2008 Artist in Residence, Kunstsammlungen, Chemnitz, Germany
