Gharem Studio

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300 years of rules. One question.I’m honoured to be part of “The Great Michelangelo Is Dead! Avant-Garde & Academicism” ...
21/10/2026

300 years of rules. One question.

I’m honoured to be part of “The Great Michelangelo Is Dead! Avant-Garde & Academicism”
at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.


Marking 300 years since the Academy received its statutes, the exhibition brings historical and contemporary works into dialogue and asks: who decides what is academic, and what is avant-garde?

Works on view
Abdulnasser Gharem
Aniconism (Painting I), 2015–2026
Oil on canvas, 180 × 230 cm
Executed by Marcela Chiriac

Aniconism (Video), 2026
Single-channel video with sound, 13 min 39 sec

Curated by Helmut Draxler
Opening: 1 October 2026
On view: 2 October 2026 – 22 August 2027

Alongside Abel Auer, Alice Creischer, Vaginal Davis, Jörg Immendorff, Louise Lawler, Roy Lichtenstein, Katharina Sieverding, Heimo Zobernig and others.

Photography:Lorenz Seidler

Design by : .qutayt 🙏
Photo Edit by .marc

17/10/2026

تعلو رؤوسنا قبابُ المساجد وخوذُ المحاربين،
وفي وجداننا إيمانٌ لا يتزعزع، ووطنٌ لا نساوم عليه. 🇸🇦

Hemisphere — Abdulnasser Gharem

A duality at the heart of every Saudi:
Devotion to faith and defence of the homeland.
Two halves of one consciousness.

Above us rise the domes of mosques and the helmets of warriors.
Within us, faith that never wavers, and a homeland we will never compromise. 🇸🇦

Design: .qutayt 🙏


SaudiArabia FaithAndIdentity

Gharem Studio is proud to celebrate our co-owner, artist and author, Halla Bint Khalid, who presented and signed copies ...
06/10/2026

Gharem Studio is proud to celebrate our co-owner, artist and author, Halla Bint Khalid, who presented and signed copies of her new graphic novel, Qismah & Naseeb, at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair on 15 September 2026.

The event took place at the German Pavilion, in collaboration with Kulturalis and Universal Art Group.

Many thanks to everyone who joined us in celebrating this special occasion of art, culture and storytelling.

A thoughtful article by Werner Bloch on the transformation of Saudi Arabia’s contemporary art scene. I’m pleased to see ...
05/10/2026

A thoughtful article by Werner Bloch on the transformation of Saudi Arabia’s contemporary art scene. I’m pleased to see my work and journey included in this wider conversation. Thank you to Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) for the feature.

I’m pleased to be part of The Great Michelangelo Is Dead! Avant-Garde & Academicism at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.O...
28/09/2026

I’m pleased to be part of
The Great Michelangelo Is Dead!
Avant-Garde & Academicism
at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.

Opening: 1 October 2026
Exhibition: 2 October 2026 – 22 August 2027
Curated by: Helmut Draxler

Works on view:

Abdulnasser Gharem
Aniconism, 2015–2026
(Painting I)
Oil on canvas, 180 × 230 cm
Executed by Marcela Chiriac

Aniconism (Video), 2026
Single-channel video
with sound, 13 min 39 sec

https://lnkd.in/dwURZ772

Marking 300 years since the Academy received its statutes, the exhibition brings historical and contemporary works into dialogue and asks who decides what is academic and what is avant-garde.

Contemporary artists include Abdulnasser Gharem, Abel Auer, Alice Creischer, Vaginal Davis, Jörg Immendorff, Louise Lawler, Roy Lichtenstein, Katharina Sieverding, and Heimo Zobernig, among others.

The Image is a Public Menace, 2026Solo exhibition byAbdulnasser Gharem📍 Galerie Nagel Draxler📅 11/09/2026 – 14/11/2026⚽ ...
20/09/2026

The Image is a Public Menace, 2026
Solo exhibition by
Abdulnasser Gharem

📍 Galerie Nagel Draxler
📅 11/09/2026 – 14/11/2026

⚽ The Unscored Goal, 2026
Ink impressions on bamboo (Sumi) paper, produced by kicking a football covered with official rubber stamps and coated in ink onto the paper.
303 × 100 cm (119.3 × 39.4 in)

What happens when an image becomes a threat, and what happens when power needs an image of its own?

The image occupies a contradictory position: it may be prohibited as a threat, or it may cross borders as capital and a tool of influence.

In football, power does not need to create the audience; it enters the scene where the audience already exists and inherits its emotion: love, belonging, memory, and loyalty, in pursuit of global visibility.

What unites these practices is a growing concern that sport has come to grant authoritarian regimes a form of
soft power—a power that strengthens their repressive grip domestically and expands their influence abroad through sovereign wealth funds and major corporations, taking advantage of football’s immense popularity.

These investments form part of a broader strategy for managing public image and expanding influence beyond national borders. Within this framework, one of the tools takes the form of
“Character References”: endorsements issued by iconic sporting figures who lend their credibility and popular appeal to entities or narratives that extend beyond sport itself.

The greater the investment in visibility, the greater the possibility of exposure.

From here, the work poses its central question: has the intended goal actually been achieved, or have these investments revealed what they sought to conceal?

The ball materially embodies this tension: bureaucratic stamps cover its surface and transform it from a tool for scoring a goal into a surface that may obscure the goal itself.

09/09/2026

Abdulnasser Gharem
The Image is a Public Menace
Solo Exhibition

Featuring three new projects:

Aniconism, 2026
The Unscored Goal, 2026
The Image is a Public Menace (Neon), 2026

📍 Galerie Nagel Draxler, Berlin
Weydingerstr. 2–4, 10178 Berlin

📅 Opening: September 10, 2026
🕕 6–10 pm

Special opening hours during Berlin Art Week:
September 12 & 13, 2026
12–6 pm

Announcing my new collaboration with Avant Arte – a new limited edition silkscreen print of my 2013 work ‘Hemisphere’.  ...
27/07/2026

Announcing my new collaboration with Avant Arte – a new limited edition silkscreen print of my 2013 work ‘Hemisphere’.

• Signed and numbered
• Worldwide shipping
• 66.6 x 100cm

For a chance to collect, head to my link in bio and enter the draw. Closes 25 August at 14:00 UK time, 16:00 AST

Delighted to see my work featured in der-spiegel . It is always meaningful when art finds space in respected internation...
10/07/2026

Delighted to see my work featured in
der-spiegel . It is always meaningful when art finds space in respected international journalism and reaches new audiences.

My sincere thanks to the editorial team for this thoughtful feature. I look forward to continuing the conversation through art.
Abdulnasser Gharem der-spiegel ,2026.

Read the full article:

https://lnkd.in/d7bG7aUk

يسرّني أن أرى عملي منشورًا في دير شبيغل (Der Spiegel). من المهم دائمًا بالنسبة لي أن يجد الفن مساحة في الصحافة الدولية المرموقة وأن يصل إلى جمهور جديد.

أتقدم بخالص الشكر لفريق التحرير على هذا التقرير المتأني والمدروس. وأتطلع إلى مواصلة هذا الحوار من خلال الفن.

عبدالناصر غارم
دير شبيغل، 2026

Art Basel  2026I’m delighted to share that my work is currently on view at  2026 with  Nagel Draxler Gallery⁠, Booth R13...
17/06/2026

Art Basel 2026

I’m delighted to share that my work is currently on view at 2026 with
Nagel Draxler Gallery⁠,
Booth R13, Hall 2.1.

📍 Messe Basel, Switzerland
📅 June 16–21, 2026

Thank you to everyone who has visited the booth and engaged with the work. I’m grateful to be part of this year’s fair and the conversations it inspires.

Address

Riyadh

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