Bio
Born in Iraq, 1963. Lives in Denver, Colorado, USA and Dubai, UAE
Born in Najaf, Iraq in 1963, Halim Al Karim has held many solo exhibitions in Dubai, Paris, Holland, Switzerland, Istanbul, USA, Jordan and Lebanon. 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 whose work was featured in 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, the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Artron Art Museum in China and Yinchaun MoCA in China. He lives and works in Dubai and Colorado, USA.
“My photography embrace the full material possibilities of the medium. I use a range of techniques spanning from antiquated darkroom production to digital manipulation as I explore the authenticity, appropriation, and the boundaries of photography as an art form; my interests align more with conceptual art than with documentary or staged photography, and my subjects span from my story, cinema, archeology, modren science research, literature, to portraiture.
The sentimantal and mythological aspects of my subjects takes inspiration from the Sumerien’s embrace of epics in their own artwork, and from the chaos of our reality”.
Education
1983-1988 B.A. Ceramics, Baghdad Academy of Fine Arts
1996-2000 Gerrit Reitveld Academy, Amsterdam, Holland
Select Solo Exhibitions
2023 “Enheduanna’s letters”, XVA Gallery, Dubai. UAE
2022 “History in the Making”, XVA Gallery, Dubai. UAE.
2020 “History in the Making” , Gallery Brigitte Schenk ,Cologne, Germany.
2019 Exiles in Hidden Worlds/Annunaki Secrets, XVA Gallery, Dubai,UAE.
2016 AB43 Contemporary, Zurich, Switzerland
2015 Chaos, XVA Gallery, Dubai, U
2014 Galerie Imane Farès, Paris
2014 Amelia Johnson Contemporary, Hong Kong.
2013 Eternal Love, XVA Gallery, UAE
2013 Eternal Love, solo booth ART13, London
2013 Halim Al Karim: Witness from Baghdad, Artspace, London, England
2012 Hidden, Galeri Merkur, Istanbul, Turkey
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 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 50×70 Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
1994 Schauer Gallery, Paris, France
1993 French Cultural Center, Amman, Jordan
1992 Baladna Gallery, 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
Museum of Contemporary Art,Mexico City, Mexico.
Artron Art Museum, China. Yinchuan MoCA, China.
Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
ORYX Foundation, Lucerne.
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
Select Group Exhibitions
2022 Art Dubai, Dubai.Morrow Collective ,Dubai. UAE.
Under the Green, Gallery Brigitte Schenk,Cologne, Germany.
2021 Glasstress at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida.USA
About Face, Museum of Art , Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Contemporary Ceramic Art from the Middle East, V&A , London
2020 ART PARIS, Gallery Brigitte Schenk,Grand Palace, Paris.
ABU DHABI ART , Gallery Brigitte Schenk, ABU DHABI, UAE.
2019 The Light Show ,Denver art Museum,Colorado, USA.
2018 Out of the blue, STUX Gallery, New York, USA. Out of Focus/Union, Farjam foundation, DUBAI, UAE. Texas contemporary, Robischon Gallery, Denver CO, USA. Abu Dhabi Art, Gallery Brigitte Schenk, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Art Cologne, Gallery Brigitte Schenk, Cologne, Germany.
2017 Glasstress, Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti, Venice, Italy. Seattle Art Fair, Robischon Gallery, Washington, USA. PRESENCE, CVA Denver CO, U.S.A. Photo Basel, AB43 CONTEMPORARY, Basel, Switzerland. Art Paris, Patrice Trigano Gallery, Paris, France. Art Cologne, Gallery Brigitte Schenk
2016 2050. A Brief History of the Future, Palazzo Reale, Milano, Italy. Silk Highway, Gallery Yallay, Hong Kong, China. Art Paris, Patrice Trigano Gallery, Paris, France. Art Cologne, Gallery Brigitte Schenk, Cologne, Germany. Art Dubai, Gallery Brigitte Schenk, Dubai, EAU. Art Central HK, Tabari Art Space, Hong Kong, China. Abu Dhabi Art, Gallery Brigitte Schenk, Abu Dhabi, EAU.
2015 The greater Middle East Unveiled, Opera Gallery, Dubai. Night Light, Cuadro Gallery, Dubai, UAE. Abu Dhabi Art, XVA Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Art Paris, Patrice Trigano Gallery, Paris, France. Paris photo , Gallery Imane Fares, Paris, France. Art Basel Hong Kong, XVA Gallery, Hong Kong. Art Brussels, Imane Fares Gallery, Brussels, Belgium. Art Dubai, Imane Fares Gallery, Dubai, UAE. Women, Side by Side Gallery, Berlin, Germany. Art 14 London, Art Space Gallery, London, UK. Secrets of the Store, AB Gallery, Lucerne, Switzerland.
2014 Night Light, Cuadro, Dubai. Miami Project, Robischon Gallery. Abu Dhabi Art, XVA Gallery. Abu Dhabi Art, Brigitte Schenk. Singapore Art Fair, XVA Gallery. Art Basel Hong Kong, XVA Gallery. Art Brussels, Imane Fares Gallery. Art Paris, Patrice Trigano Gallery. Art Houston, Robischon Gallery. Art Dubai, Imane Fares Gallery. Women, Side by Side Gallery, Berlin. Art 14 London, Art Space Gallery. Secrets of the Store, AB Gallery, Luzern, Switzerland.
2013 Obscura, Amelia Johnson Contemporary, Hong Kong
2012 Arab Express: The Latest Art From The Arab World, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
2012 Artspace London Opening
2011 Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair, Turkey
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
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, Jordan