Tabari Artspace art gallery in Dubai presented Between Floating Worlds, the solo exhibition of visual artist Kevork Mourad.
Pushing the boundaries of his practice Mourad forms new bonds between once disparate disciplines employing a technique of live drawing and animation in concert with musicians – developing a collaboration in which art and music harmonise with one another. His unique practice is developed through the employment of monotypes and calligraphic gestures that come together to form cut-outs and three-dimensional works. Mourad conceived this new way of creating in an attempt to create a whole world, an invented historic exploration, to trigger memory and indulge in re-discovering a universe that never existed to begin with.
The artist likens his creative process to the production of a book; like an author he takes a specific concept and builds his narrative around it. One piece leads on to another: each fresh body of work evolves from what came before. For Between Floating Worlds the artist explores the sentiments of the displaced, those who leave one world in search of a better one, but are often met with disappointment when the grass they discover is not as green as they had dreamed. His work falls into grey areas, the spaces between ‘us’ and ‘them’, old and new, a difficult past and an un-certain future, the fragile present defined by hope and anticipation, uncertainty and ambition. The pieces, produced especially for this exhibition, embody symbols of transience, travel and uncertainty - suspended creatures, ropes, and sails. Enhanced by the addition of audio, the selection of works will be complemented by the masterly arrangements of Argentinian composer Juan Pablo Jofre. The artist, drawing inspiration from myriad sources, taps the minds of mu-sicians, philosophers and poets. The influence of Argentine short-story writer Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Bor-ges Acevedo is present in his output as well as Italian novelist Italo Calvino.
As part of his practice Mourad regularly engages with aspiring artists and students; as such Between Floating Worlds will be produced in collaboration with students from local art schools, adding a regional element to the production, stimulating the local art community and evolving the practice of the new generation.
“Music has always been a big part of my artistic practice. Sometimes I have created pieces based on music, and sometimes music has been created for my pieces. The dialogue between the two art forms has always been fascinat-ing to me. It is magical to me when sometimes the music will seem to control the lines and gesture of the visual piece and vice versa, like a dance between the two.
When like-minded thinkers meet, it is always interesting to push the boundaries and create a project where it is about the work, not about the disparate media. A successful multi-media project is about beautiful storytelling; the collabora-tion should be about transmitting the idea as effectively as possible to the audience. People are seeking this kind of sophisticated collaboration. I’m always fascinated and open to collaborating with different art forms, which I have—with dancers, writers, composers, and poets.”
- Kevork Mourad