“Through Hidden Love, I resist to be a part of the reality of violence and deception in politics.” Halim Al Karim

Renowned for his portrayals of war and conflict, Halim Al Karim reveals his newest photographic project, Hidden Love. Abstracting and diffusing his subjects in this series of portraits, the artist invites us to meditate on the clear referent of the eyes and the blurred periphery. Females’ faces are psychologically suspended between the tranquility of their innocent beauty and the cathartic experience of war. Colorfully masked in electromagnetic auras that hover on their skin, the bold figures feature taped mouths, connoting secrets or stifled freedoms.

Born in Najaf, Iraq in 1963, Halim Al Karim has held many solo exhibitions in Dubai, Paris, Holland, USA, Jordan and Lebanon. Recent group exhibitions include Saatchi Collection’s Unveiled: Contemporary Art from the Middle East (2009) Peripheral Vision at the Barjeel Collection in Sharjah (2010), Nujoom: Constellations in Arab Art at the Farjam Collection in Dubai (2010-2011). The artist was nominated for the 2010 Sovereign Art Prize and was awarded the jury prize in the International Cairo Biennale in Egypt. He is one of the six artists featured in the forthcoming 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, and L'Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. He lives in Dubai and Colorado, US.