HALIM AL-KARIM (IRAQI B. 1963)
Hidden Face
1995
lambda print on board
138 x 100 cm (54 1/4 x 39 1/3 in) (each)
(3)

PROVENANCE
Collection of Jason Lee
Saatchi collection
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2008

EXHIBITION HISTORY
Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East, Saatchi Gallery, London, 30 January - 9 May 2009
Halim has also exhibited in the USA, Dubai, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Holland, France, Italy, England, Switzerland, Morrocco and China

LITERATURE
Unveiled: New Art From The Middle East, Saatchi Gallery, London, 2009, n.p. catalogue no. 06 (illustrated in colour)

An internationally established artist, Halim Al-Karim's practice has been influenced by his time spent hiding in the desert for three years, during the first Gulf War, to avoid the compulsory military service. He was looked after by Bedouin women who gave him food and taught him about their culture.

In this body of work, Al-Karim presents a series of triptychs, each comprised of three faces. Some are well known figures, such as Saddam Hussein in Hidden Face, others are film stills, artworks, or artifacts. Presented as enlarged panels their distortion is compounded, raising the question not of what they represent but of their deeper meaning and interconnectivity. Hidden Face was made in 1995, years before the famous photo of Saddam in custody; the figure is in fact made up, based on how Al-Karim imagined the dictator would look in the future. The two flanking out of focus figures are suggestive of world leaders – still in power – whose support of Saddam’s regime has been forgotten. Al-Karim has blurred their identities to show the duplicity of their motives, scripting them as anonymous accomplices who will never stand trial.

Al-Karim lives and works in Dubai.