Mohammed Kazem

Place: Dubai

Born: 1969

Biography:

Mohammed Kazem is a contemporary Emirati artist working in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He was born in 1969 and was the son of a taxicab driver. At age 14, Kazem decided to drop out from school and join the army. He found art as a mean to escape his reality and express himself as a teenager, he started to investigate his surrounding environment as a keen artist to explore new methods of art. In 1984, he was formally introduced to his future mentor and friend, Hassan Sharif, founder of Dubai Art Atelier; the first dedicated centre for young artists, and a pioneer of conceptual art scene in the early 70s in the United Arab Emirates. In 1987, Kazem obtained a degree in painting from Emirates Fine Arts Society, and later joined the University of the Arts in Philadelphia where he got his Masters in Fine Arts in 2012. Kazem is best recognized for his conceptual work Directions (2005-2013) and Autobiography (1997–present).