What can you find in a cloud? A lot, says Lebanese artist

‘99 Objects Possible to Find on a Cloud,’ a solo exhibition that has been running at Ayyam Gallery in Dubai by Lebanese artist, writer and architect Nadim Karam will end on Tuesday, Dec. 31.
Nadim Karam is renowned for his public sculptures, which can be seen in cities around the world including Tokyo, London, Prague and Beirut, which he refers to as urban toys, underlining a playful approach. His characters are both human and animals.
“The Cloud is synonymous with the idea of a dream for me. I can’t think of anything more important,” says Karam, who is known for his public art and work in urban regeneration. The show presents 99 printed works depicting fantastical combinations of elements from real life merged with his urban toy characters. His works transcend social, political and national borders, forming a unique pictorial language, replete with recurring symbols, and with its own original characters and narratives. They form an alphabet of sorts, in what is an on-going, sometimes absurdist, exploration of the creative power of dreams.
“This project was the origin of my whole body of work based on clouds. I was visiting Dubai, and dreamed of a rain cloud. Then I began imagining it floating amongst the tower tops; a place where anyone in Dubai could go up to, look out across the desert and dream. So I decided to design it, says the artist.
Another interesting piece on show is a sculpture, ‘Cultural Warrior 1’, ‘Hannibal and the Elephant’ (2013), featuring a dominant figure wielding a scepter with the symbol of a cloud standing proudly atop an intricately carved elephant. Hannibal and the Elephant is a two-meter-high sculpture.
“This is first in a new series of sculptures called Cultural Warriors” adds the artist.
‘The Walking Cloud’, another work that emerges from a mass of white feathers and mother of pearl buttons, is also attractive.
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.
“Most of my work incorporates the idea of traveling in one way or another,” says Karam, who born in 1957 in Senegal and now lives and works in Beirut.
Karam’s work has appeared in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide, as well as biennales including Venice, Liverpool, and Gwangju. Previous solo exhibitions include: Ayyam Gallery London (2013); DIFC Gate, Dubai (2010); Sultan Gallery, Kuwait (2008); Al-Bustan, Lebanon (2006). Selected group shows include: Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris and Abu Dhabi (2013); Villa Empain Exhibition, Brussels (2012); Chatsworth House (2011), Royal College of Art, London (2011); Running Horse Contemporary Art Space, Lebanon (2011); Katzen Arts Center, Washington (2010); American University Museum, Washington (2010); Ayyam Gallery Al Quoz, Dubai (2009); Liverpool Independent Art Biennale (2006).
Working across a wide range of medium, 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.
“We are getting a lot of visitors as Nadim Karam’s works are so popular” Minna J. Apostolovic, of Ayyam Gallery told Arab News.