The Emirati artist Mohammed Kazem to show at the Venice Biennale

Considered to be a pioneer of Emirati contemporary art, Mohammed Kazem is one of the most watched talents of the country. We meet him ahead of his forthcoming Venice show.

Scales by Mohammed Kazem. Courtesy Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde

In the rear area of the gallery, portioned off by a temporary wall, is a new work called Nurses. It is a pattern of coloured canvas squares, installed at random to form a larger square. He came up with the idea in Philadelphia when, on early morning walks, he used to see nurses dressed in a variety of bright colours.

“It is abstract but it is about the environment I was in and it is about the rhythm of life,” he says.

Kazem’s work is displayed in Gallery IVDE with a Belgian artist, Fred Eerdekens, who makes intricate wire sculptures that, when light is cast on them, reveal a reflection or shadow of text. The playful phrases lead the viewer around the gallery and give a poetry to the various mediums within. “Neither myself or Fred have a systematic way of displaying our work, so it works well together,” says Kazem.

• Poetics and Meanings will show at Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde in Alserkal Avenue until June 8

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