Halim Al Karim
Halim Al Karim Photography
Side by Side Gallery Akim Monet GmbH Potsdamer Strasse 81b 10785 Berlin - Germany T. +49-30-25 46 09 44 F. +49-30-25 46 09 45 info@sidebysidegallery.com www.sidebysidegallery.com
BIOGRAPHY Halim Al Karim underwent a harrowing experience during the first Gulf War. Opposing Saddam’s regime and its compulsory military service, he took to hiding in the desert, living for almost three years in a hole in the ground covered by a pile of rocks. He survived only through the assistance of a Bedouin woman who brought him food and water and taught him about gypsy customs and mysticism. Understandably, these events have had a profound effect on his life and form the basis for his art practice. Halim Al Karim now lives and works in Dubai and Denver, Colorado. Iraqi artist Halim Al Karim has held many solo exhibitions in Dubai, Paris, Holland, the USA, Jordan,
and Lebanon. He was nominated for the 2010 Sovereign Art Prize and was awarded the jury prize in the International Cairo Biennale in Egypt. Halim Al Karim was one of six artists whose work was featured at the Iraqi Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale, the first Iraqi Pavilion in 36 years. His work is in the collections of major museums, including the Arab Museum of Contemporary Art in Doha, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Saatchi Collection in London, Darat Al Funun in Amman, L’Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and ´ the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. Biography courtesy of XVA Gallery and Saatchi Gallery
PLATES
Halim AL KARIM (b. 1963) UNTITLED 1, 2008 “King’s Harem” Photographic print Mounted on board 225 x 100 cm Edition 3 + 2 AP
Halim AL KARIM (b. 1963) HIDDEN GODDESS 9, 2009 Photograph covered with black silk 80 x 60 cm Edition 5 + 2 AP
Each of the works in Halim Al Karim’s “Hidden Goddess” series is covered with black silk as if the subject were wearing a head-scarf. Therefore the image, which is “covered” when viewed from the side, is revealed when it is viewed head-on.
Halim AL KARIM (b. 1963) UNTITLED 10, 2008 “King’s Harem” Photograph 220 x 120 cm Edition 3 + 2 AP
SELECTED BOOKS
New Vision Arab Contemporary Art in the 21st Century Edited by Hossein Amirsadeghi Salwa Mikdadi LISBN 9780956794222 28.50 x 25.00 cm Paperback with flaps 288pp With 531 illustrations First published 2011 Distributed on behalf of Transglobe Publishing Ltd
New Vision Arab Contemporary Art in the 21st Century Edited by Hossein Amirsadeghi Salwa Mikdadi With over 500 stunning colour illustrations New Vision: Arab Contemporary Art in the 21st Century offers the most comprehensive, scholarly and in-depth survey yet of what is happening at the cutting-edge of art in the Arab world. In the perpetual quest for the new, the exciting and the innovative, the attention of the global art community has in recent years been more and more focused on the Middle East. Exhibitions and articles have highlighted a remarkable burst of creativity in the region, as Arab countries from Syria to Algeria, Egypt to Lebanon and Palestine to Saudi Arabia have launched some of the most fascinating artists in recent years The conceptual playfulness of Hassan Khan, the charged paintings of Jeffar Khaldi, the organic sculptures of Diana Al-Hadid, and the moving photography of Yto Barrada have dazzled audiences with their variety,
innovation and thoughtfulness. Until now, however, nobody has captured the vitality of the region’s art in a single book. Five groundbreaking essays offer the best context to date for contemporary Arab art. These are followed by some 90 superbly illustrated profiles of key artists, organizations and galleries. Mixing the well known (such as Mona Hatoum or Susan Hefuna) with the up and coming (for example, Steve Sabella or Mireille Astore). Exclusive interviews with artists and key curators give an unrivalled insight into the aims, ideas and inspirations of this new generation. Perfect for all scholars, students and lovers of art, as well as all those interested in the broader Arab cultures, this book is set to become the touchstone publication on this increasingly important and exciting subject.
Halim Al Karim With the collaboration of Galerie Imane Farès Art Contemporain du Moyen-Orient et d’Afrique Author: Déscendre Nadine Description: 24 x 30 cm, 200 pages, 92 colours, hardcover Series: Contemporary art Published by: Skira Category: Contemporary art Language: Bilingual (English-French) Year: 2012 Isbn: 8857210711
Halim Al Karim With the collaboration of Galerie Imane Farès Art Contemporain du Moyen-Orient et d’Afrique There are works of art being created these days that are nothing like what we have ever seen before. Unrelated to any established aesthetic agenda, they have surfaced with unimaginable suddenness and asserted themselves with immense singularity. The artists behind these works invent their own rules with independence, not to say solitude at times, equalled only by their originality and freedom. The latter were often acquired at a high price, at the cost of wanderings, sufferings, and individual quests in a world that took them by surprise and whose upheavals have weighed heavily on them. Halim Al Karim is one of a generation of Arab artists forced by recent global events to live and create unexpected relationships between distant places, geographically and culturally. With dogged determination, he has devised and implemented the codes and means of his own artistic explorations. Without urgency, he has owned to everything, and particularly to all the deserts — those in his soul and the real deserts of his days as a young man buried in a war-torn country. This dereliction has never left him since.
From his current life in the United States, Dubai, and Holland (where he divides his time), from his travels around the world, and from Iraq, of course, where he was born, Halim Al Karim has drawn on and been enriched by diverse experiences, sometimes painful. These have led to an intimate isolation, now connected to forms of art expressed between secrecy and a search for an unspeakable truth. His work draws meaning from his capacity to resonate with the world and to invent forms, gestures, codes, and symbols that allow him to express his obsessions and problematics in unprecedented ways. Nadine Descendre, the author of this book, sets out to retrace the footsteps of the artist. She borrows from the life of the man, the better to explore his working methods and the rules and techniques he has imposed on himself. This approach lets the works speak for themselves and enables the reader to get past their initial invisibility.
CURRICULUM VITAE
B. Iraq, 1963. Lives in Denver, Colorado, USA and Dubai, UAE Education 1983-1988 B.A. Ceramics, Baghdad Academy of Fine Arts 1996-2000 Gerrit Reitveld Academy, Amsterdam, Holland Select Solo Exhibitions 2013 XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE 2011 Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair, Istanbul 2011 XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE 2011 NYU Abu Dhabi, UAE 2010 Witness From Baghdad, Darat Al Funun 2009 XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE 2008 Darat Al Funon, Kuwait 2008 XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE 2007 Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, USA 2006 XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE 2005 Robischon Gallery,Denver, Colorado, USA 2005 Gremillion Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA 2005 Espace SD, Beirut, Lebanon 2005 XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE 2004 Saifi Village-Quartier des Arts, Beirut, Lebanon 2003 Four Walls Gallery, Amman, Jordan 2001 Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden, Holland 2000 Fibeitt Gallery, Amsterdam, Holland 1996 L’Entretemps Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon 1995 50x70 Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon 1994 Schauer Gallery, Paris, France 1993 French Cultural Center, Amman, Jordan 1992 Baladna Gallery, Amman, Jordan
Select Group Exhibitions 2011 Iraqi Pavilion 54th Venice Biennale, Venice Italy 2010 Nujoom: Constellations of Arab Art from the Farjam Collection, Dubai, UAE 2010 Peripheral Vision, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE 2010 Stux Gallery, New York, USA 2010 Red Line Gallery, curated by Robishon Gallery, Colorado, USA 2010 Milan Art Fair, Milan, Italy 2010 Aspen Art, Colorado, USA 2010 Behind the Mask, The New Art Gallery, Walsall, England 2010 IF Galleria, Paris 2009 Saatchi Gallery, London, England 2009 Bastakiya Art Fair, Dubai 2009 Paul Klee Museum, Bern, Switzerland 2009 Crossings Traversees, Rabat, Morocco 2009 Hong Kong International Art Fair, Hong Kong 2009 Arti Campi Gallery, Verona, Italy 2009 Art Abu Dhabi, UAE 2008 Art Paris, Paris, France 2008 Art Paris, Abu Dhabi, UAE 2008 Asian Contemporary Art Fair, New York, USA 2008 Radical Gallery, Zug, Switzerland 2006 Pinceaux pour Plumes”, Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon 2006 Arteclásica 2006 - 3ª Feria de Arte Clásico Contemporáne, El Centro Costa Salguero, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2004 Ceramic Delft, Delft, Holland 2003 Tegels, Corrosia Cultural Center, Almere Haven, Holland 2001 Contemporary Ceramics in Lebanon, AUB, Beirut, Lebanon 1999 Ceramic Millenium, Amsterdam, Holland 1999 Pictura, Dordrecht, Holland 1998 Art Deco LA FIAD, Beirut, Lebanon 1998 Global Ceramics 1, Landsmeer, Holland
1996 Babel Gallery, Amsterdam, Holland 1995 Salon des Art Decoratif – SAD, Beirut, Lebanon 1994 Salon d’Automne, Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon 1993 International Art Festival, Amman, Jordan Awards 2010 Nominee, Sovereign Art Prize, Hong Kong, China 2003 Sursock Museum Prize- Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon 2001 Jury Prize for painting - International Cairo Biennale, Cairo, Egypt 1998 Ceramics Special Mention - Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon 1995 Ceramics Special Mention - Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon 1994 Sculpture Special Mention - Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon Public Collections Arab Museum of Contemporary Art, Doha, Qatar Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE Darat Al Funun, Amman, Jordan Farjam Foundation, Dubai, UAE The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, Texas, USA L’Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA), Paris, France Royal Association of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan Saatchi Gallery, London, England Sovereign Art Foundation, Hong Kong Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK Weng Art Foundation, Krefeld, Germany Public Commissions 2002 “Harbour of the Soul” - Bronze Sculpture - H460cmXW460cmXD6cm Royal Tropical Institute -Amsterdam - Holland 2001 “An Oriental Dog’s Dream”- Ceramic Mural -H250cmxW400cm.XD6cm Lootsstraat - Amsterdam- Holland
MORI ART MUSEUM, Tokyo [Arab Express: The Latest Art from the Arab World] 16 June - 28 October, 2012.
CATALOGUE DESIGN Anne-Marie Visconti Claudio Fortugno Akim Monet
Side by Side Gallery Akim Monet GmbH Potsdamer Strasse 81b 10785 Berlin - Germany T. +49-30-25 46 09 44 F. +49-30-25 46 09 45 info@sidebysidegallery.com www.sidebysidegallery.com