UAE Master Mohammed Kazem Opens First Solo Show in Korea at Gallery Crane
Creatrip Team
2 months ago
Gallery Crane presents Emirati artist Mohammed Kazem’s first solo exhibition in Korea, “SHIFTING DIRECTIONS,” held in Seoul’s Pyeongchang-dong from December 18 to January 24. The show spotlights decades of Kazem’s meticulous “scratch” works—created by finely scraping paper with scissors—to capture light’s tremors, air’s vibrations, and fleeting natural rhythms. New pieces made during his 2024 residency at Seoul Museum of Art’s Nanji Residency form the core of the exhibition, including the ‘Waves’ and ‘Coordinates’ series that translate bodily sensation into abstract painting. Kazem, also a player of the oud (ʿūd), treats sounds generated in the scratch process as integral to the works; series like “Collecting Sound” visually arrest ephemeral sounds and light, inviting viewers to imagine dynamic rhythms beyond the static surface. The exhibition connects with concurrent shows at the Seoul Museum of Art—such as the installation “Window” (2003–2005) and video “Directions (Merging)” (2022)—which examine labor in the Gulf region, vanishing coordinates, and themes of disappearance, time, and landscape instability. Gallery Crane says the exhibition honors moments on the brink of disappearance and offers Korean audiences a first look at Kazem’s unique practice, strengthening ties with Middle Eastern contemporary art and probing new ways art expresses emotion and existence.
