Time Out Dubai

Iranian artist Kamrooz Aram has set aside his canvases to explore the concept of representation in an exhibition currently running at Dubai’s Green Art Gallery. Relinquishing his creative hand in favour of a critical eye, curator Aram explains how photographstell a calculated story that is ‘assumed’ by the photographer. ‘Images play a major role in the telling of history,’ explains the NYC­ based artist. ‘It’s critical to understand that images are made by people, and that people make decisions in the process of image­making that influence our understandingof their subject.’

The show, entitled ‘A Permanent Record For Future Investigation’, has enabled Aram, as curator, to focus on a subject that particularly intrigues him. ‘The question of representation is something I’ve been interested in within my own studio practice and research for many years. But it was really liberating to focus on artists who make work that is different than my own, artists who deal more directly with photographic images.’

He explains that his artistic background also allowed him to develop a unique relationship with the artists. ‘One benefit of having an artist as curator is that I’m empathetic with the artists’ concerns. We could have conversations in the studio or over coffee or online, and we could speak frankly with each other, discussing possibilities about which works to present and how to group them. I think artists have slightly different conversations with each other than they do with a curator, critic or gallerist,’ says Aram.

In his interview to Time Out Dubai, he tells us why he chose three of the key works.