Dubai is a multivalent place. Despite its reputation as a luxury tourist destination, the port city has been a magnet for migrant workers for almost a century and a half. In the painting exhibition “A Prime Activity” at Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Mohammed Kazem celebrates this often unacknowledged side of Dubai, his home city, as well as encapsulating an important moment in his diverse and compelling practice. 

Born and raised in Dubai, Kazem is an integral member of “The Group of Five,” an informal collective of artists widely recognized as the founders of the Emirati contemporary art scene. In the spirit of the group’s experimental methodology, Kazem’s practice is wide-ranging, spanning performance, photography, video art, installation, and painting. Yet “A Prime Activity” was an intimate and personal exhibition as Kazem paints, in ink, acrylic, and watercolor, his neighborhood through his eyes and his place within it, illuminating the everyday social life of the city of Dubai.

To the left of the entrance were five paintings of the inside of Kazem’s studio from the years 1993, 1998 and 1990. Rendered in a variety of vibrant and muted watercolor and acrylic hues, the works highlight the workmanship of the artist and his own activities as part of the urban economy—it is a craft and a process, existing in tandem with the milieu outside of his door. 

In the main space of the gallery, a series of 26 small watercolor portraits, collectively titled Neighbours (2018), were hung in two parallel horizontal rows. The portraits, painted in soft blues, purples, ochers, and greens, are silhouettes of crowds of people who Kazem encountered in his day-to-day life on the street or while waiting for public transportation. Painted on eggshell white paper, these abstract shadows do not possess any identifying elements, but in their grouping together evoke the multicultural, multi-faceted communities of Dubai, all of whom contribute greatly to the character of the city. In the back wall and rear section of the gallery, Kazem presented graphic compositions, also titled Neighbours (2018), of abstract architectural elements—sharply delineated saturated colors represent rooflines, corners, and walls where buildings and dwellings came together. The texture of the paint was rough and coarse, echoing the stucco style of Dubai’s architectural vernacular. Set against brilliant, deep-navy skies, these perspectives accentuate the mundane but important connections between places of the city, the focal point being the intimate spaces where people live and work.