Ayyam Gallery Al Quoz, Dubai presents 99 Objects Possible to Find on a Cloud, a major exhibition of acclaimed Lebanese artist, writer and architect Nadim Karam. Several new bodies of work will be shown alongside previously exhibited sculptures and paintings in a comprehensive survey of Karam’s recent artistic practice.
Karam portrays absorbing dreamscapes through a unique pictorial language composed of symbols and characters which populate both his paintings and sculptures. He frequently revisits the concept of ‘The Cloud’ as a method of considering the space around oneself and looking at the potential narratives a utopian ideal can inspire, as well as a form of escapism from urbanisation.
Working across a wide range of mediums, from architectural interventions, to sculpture and painting, Karam does not impose any hierarchy; each medium serves its own unique purpose in drawing a response from his viewer. The artist is renowned for his public sculptures – which can be seen in cities around the world including London, Prague, Beirut and Tokyo – which he refers to as urban toys, underlining a playful approach. These are not works to intimidate; they are to be enjoyed and contemplated – instilling elements of fantasy into municipal environments.
The exhibition at Ayyam Gallery will present an immersive and ambitious new installation, Objects Possible to Find on a Cloud (2013). For this, Karam will present 99 printed works depicting fantastical combinations of elements from real life merged with his urban toy characters. The prints will both adorn the gallery walls and hang from the ceiling, creating a dreamlike ‘sky’ within the space. Other new works on show include the sculptures, Cultural Warrior 1, Hannibal and the Elephant (2013), featuring a dominant figure wielding a sceptre with the symbol of a cloud standing proudly atop an intricately carved elephant; and The Walking Cloud (2013), a surreal and otherworldly form that emerges from a mass of white feathers and mother of pearl buttons.
The titles of Karam’s works are indicative of a strong narrative thread which runs through each series, from the large-scale semi abstract sculpture such as The Cloud, The Fisherman and the Mutating Cities (2012) to paintings such as Boy on a Cloud Carrying an Elephant (2012). In Absurd Moments (2012), part of the series Shooting the Cloud, each individual element of the painting touches another, creating a chain between diverse symbols; a flower springs up from a plane on a collision course with an apparently unconcerned figure, who in turn perches atop a tank taking aim at the plane. Karam brings together these emblems of war and peace throughout this series to create whimsical tableaux that ask the viewer to look afresh at the world and all it has to offer.
