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HIDDEN - HALIM AL KARIM
HIDDEN - HALIM AL KARIM
8 Ekim - 5 Kasım 2012
Halim Al Karim’in işleri, kentli toplumun gitgide evrimleşen zihniyeti üzerinde duruyor. Sanatçı, çözülmemiş,
devam eden ve özellikle şiddete ilişkin, toplum liderlerinin yozlaşmış siyasi gündemiyle oluşan sorunlarla
ilgileniyor.
Sanatçı, görsel gerçekliğin dayanaklarını muhafaza etmesi ve zihnin başkalaşmış hallerini göstermek için
manipule edilebilmesi nedeniyle fotoğrafı, kendisini ifade etmek için mükemmel bir alan olarak tanımlıyor.
Kompozisyon olarak odak dışı, ipek bir peçenin altında bazen daha gizemli bir hale getirilmiş fotoğraflar, metnin,
zamanın ve yerin belirsizliğini içerirken, geçmişi, şimdiyi ve geleceği eş zamanlı cisimleştiriyor. Sanatçının işlerinin
ayırt edici özelliklerini taşıyan bu teknikler, yaşadığı sıkıntıların üstesinden gelebilme araçları.
1985’te başlayarak bugüne dek süren Hidden serisi, Halim Al Karim’in en erken fotoğrafik teması ve Allah’ın 999
isminden biri olan ve “gerçek” anlamına gelen al-batin’in Sufi konseptini birleştiriyor. “Kral’ın Harem”inde,
Oryantalist görselliği yansıtıyor ve sanat tarihinin iyi bilinen temalarına çağdaş bir yorum getiriyor. Bunlarla, güç
nasıl zorlayıcı ve baskıcı olabilir üzerine yorumlar yapan sanatçı, temayı bir Doğu-Batı çekişmesi olarak görmek
yerine problemlerin evrenselliğine dikkat çekiyor.
Fotoğraflardaki insanlar kendi hikayelerini ortaya koyuyor; aşklarını ve acılarını. Grinin tonlarını içeren farklı
renklerle evrensel insani duyguları betimleyen işlerde, odak noktasındaki gözlerin tekrarlayan kompozisyonu ve
maskelenmiş ağızlar, çağdaş zamanlarda Iraklı’larca benimsenen bir zihniyet olan öz-korumanın ve direncin
formunu yansıtıyor.
Halim Al Karim’in fotoğrafları, evrensel insani durumlarla iletişim kuruyor ve aynı zamanda otobiyografik nitelik
taşıyor. Sanatçı, hayallerinden başka bir şeye sahip olmadığını şu sözlerle dile getiriyor; “Bu hayatta, insanlığımdan
sıyrıldım, ancak hayallerim sayesinde daha süblime, daha asil olanın ne olduğunu tekrar buldum. Hayallerim
beni insanoğlunun kendisine ve başkalarına karşı zalimliğinden ve gaddarlığından korudu. Hayallerim bana,
korunaklı bir sığınak bulma girişimi, ruhumu iyileştirmek ve korumak için iç dünyamın keşfi sayesinde, dış dünyanın
acı dolu gerçekliğinden kaçmamda yardımcı oldu. Hayallerimden başka bir şeye sahip değilim.”
Halim Al-Karim
Dubai, UAE
March 2011
Halim Al Karim’s works dwell on the evolving mentality of urban society. He is concerned with ongoing and
unresolved issues, specifically those that relate to violence – the kinds which are generated through corrupt,
political agendas of society’s leaders.
The artist says that photography is the perfect medium for him to express himself; it retains anchors of our
visual reality and can be manipulated to show altered states of mind. Compositionally out of focus,
sometimes rendered more mysterious under a veil of silk, his photographs imply an uncertainty of context,
time and place, embodying the past, present and future simultaneously. These techniques are the hallmark
of his work and are a means to overcome the adversity that he experienced and, in turn, transform the
camera and me into a unified truth-seeking entity.
Begun in 1985 and continuing today, Hidden is his earliest photographic theme and incorporates the Sufi
concept of al-batin (what is the exact translation of this ‘truth’, if not what is the translation?) which is one
of the 999 names for Allah and denotes ‘truth’ when recited. In Kings Harem, he reflected upon Orientalist
imagery and built a contemporary interpretation of well-known themes in the history of art. With these he
is commenting on how power can be coercive and oppressive and is not necessarily an East vs. West
debate – these problems are universal.
The people in his photographs reveal their own stories; their love and their pain. He depicts universal human
emotions in different colours, including shades of grey. The repetitive composition of eyes in focus and
masked mouths reflects a form of self-preservation and an act of resistance, a mentality adopted by many
Iraqis in contemporary times.
Halim Al Karim’s photographs communicate the universal human condition and are also autobiographical.
The artist says that; “In this life, I was stripped of my humanity, but I have retrieved what is more sublime,
more noble, through my dreams. My dreams have saved me from the cruelty and brutality of mankind
towards himself and towards his fellowman. My dreams have helped me escape the painful reality of the
external world through an exploration of my inner world: an attempt to find a safe shelter within, to recover
and save my soul. I own nothing but my dreams.”
Halim Al-Karim
Dubai, UAE
March 2011
İsimsiz 9, 225 x 100 cm, Lambda print, Edisyon 2/3 + 2 AP 2008
Untitled 9, 225 x 100 cm, Lambda print, Edition 2/3 + 2 AP 2008
İsimsiz 5, 170 x 75 cm, Lambda print, Edisyon 1/3 + 2 AP, 2008
Untitled 5, 170 x 75 cm, Lambda print, Edition 1/3 + 2 AP, 2008
İsimsiz 6, 95 x 180 cm, Lambda print, Edisyon 3/3 + 2 AP, 2008
Untitled 6, 95 x 180 cm, Lambda print, Edition 3/3 + 2 AP, 2008
Goddess of Florence, 90 x 60 cm, Fotoğraf, 2006
Goddess of Florence, 90 x 60 cm, Photography, 2006
Goddess of Venice, 90 x 60 cm, Fotoğraf, 2006
Goddess of Venice, 90 x 60 cm, Photography, 2006
Goddess of Rome, 90 x 60 cm, Fotoğraf, 2006
Goddess of Rome, 90 x 60 cm, Photography, 2006
Hidden Goddess 2,140 x 100 cm, Lambda print üzerine siyah ipek, EAP, 2009
Hidden Goddess 2,140 x 100 cm, Lambda print covered with black silk, EAP, 2009
Hidden Goddess 3, 140 x 100 cm, Lambda print üzerine siyah ipek, AP, 2009
Hidden Goddess 3, 140 x 100 cm, Lambda print covered with black silk, AP, 2009
Hidden Love 2, 81 x 60 cm, Lambda print, 3/5 + 2 AP, 2009
Hidden Love 2, 81 x 60 cm, Lambda print, 3/5 + 2 AP, 2009
Wall Street 1, 50 x 150 cm, Triptik, Edisyon 1/3, 2001
Wall Street 1, 50 x 150 cm, Triptych, Edition 1/3, 2001
HALIM AL KARIM
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
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2012 Halim Al Karim, Galerie Imane
Farès, Paris, France
2012 Hidden Goddess, Nuova galleria
Morone, Milan, Italy
2012 Schizophrenia, AB Gallery, Luzern,
Switzerland
2012 Art Paris Art Fair, Galerie Imane
Farès, Paris, France
2011 XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2011 NYU Abu Dhabi, UAE
2010 Witness From Baghdad, Darat Al
Funun, Amman, Jordan
2009 XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2008 Darat Al Funin, 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
Selected Group Exhibitions
2012 Artspace London Opening
2011 Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair,
Turkey
2011 Iraqi Pavilion 54th Venice Biennale,
Venice, Italy
2011 Saatchi Gallery, London
2011 See the Light, Louis Vuitton Hong
Kong Gallery, Hong Kong
2011 Al Ghaib (The Disappearance),
Contemporary Art Space, Maraya Al
Qasba, Sharjah, UAE
2011 The State: Uppers and Downers,
Farook Collection, Traffic Gallery, Dubai,
UAE
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
1998 Fleuris-98, Ede, Holland
1998 Agial Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
1997 Musee des Metiers de Mercure,
Larochelle, France
1996 Parterre Gallery, Sommelsdijk,
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,
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- Hollandd
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Fotoğraf // Halim Al Karim - XVA Gallery
Grafik // Saniye Dönmez
Baskı
// Pınarbaş Matbaa