Sculpture Collection | Highlights

Here is a quick look into a few pieces from the CAP sculpture collection.

Heroes: The Rise and Fall (2013) by Ali CherriContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait

Muhammed Faris flew as Research Cosmonaut in the Interkosmos program on Soyuz TM3 to the Mir space station in July 1987. He was decorated Hero of the Soviet Union and Order of Lenin. In August 2012, he defected the Syrian Army and fled to Turkey.

Untitled (2015) by Abdulrahman KatananiContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait

Abdulrahman Katanani is a young artist whose work is noted for its intensity in portraying a vivid recollection of stories amassed throughout the years that initially depict the tragedy and hardships endured at the camp. Through his work, he is delivering the campʼs message of resistance and endurance using tools from the camp that resonate happiness, apathy, empathy, tears and joy. Katanani has come to incorporate found objects from the camp such as bottle caps, rags and utensils, with corrugated iron and barbed wire – materials indigenous to the camp’s structure. Some of his more recent work include olive trees that are native to Palestine, rendered in barbed wire; as well as children made from corrugated iron flying kites formed from tin cans.

Untitled by Ahmed Al BahraniContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait

From abstract to contemporary and conceptual art, Ahmed Al Bahrani transforms his medium to address the modern-day conditions in a forthright manner. The art is the outcome of his extroverted opinion; it is outspoken, intimidating and shocking to the viewer. The story that the artist is declaring is announced through the rough and unbreakable metals where the distressing narratives weigh down the rigidity to enhance the debilitate effect of war. He elevates the product to eliminate marginalization; these etched memories are converted into object form, preserved to carry a statement that needs to be disclosed.

Grand Contortionist IV (2005) by Mauro CordaContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait

Corda explains, “When I think of my creations, I imagine them to be weightless” ; this magical impression is also perceived by the spectator, who remains dazzled by the figures which twist themselves into plastic poses.

Dual by Saloua Raouda ChoucairContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait

One way Choucair explored her visual poetry was through the realization of interlocking forms. Both in her paintings and her sculptures, she created biomorphic abstract elements that fit together, sometimes as though previously separated by natural forces, and sometimes as though spooning together like lovers.

One such series she created in the late '70s was called 'Dual'. Some of the individual forms in the Dual series seem almost to evoke the calligraphic marks common in Arabic writing. But they are abstracted and softened in such a way that they also evoke the shapes of creatures, or plants, or even human features snuggling together harmoniously.

Nude (2009) by Hussein MadiContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait

Hussein Madi’s iconic style of oversized geometric figures, sensual yet with primal lines also reflects the influence of European modern art masters such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. On the other hand, his structured abstract works, with a timeless aesthetic and a harmony of color and form include the repetition of motifs with rounded edges that draw on the abstract designs of Islamic art.

I am the Voice of Freedom for those Who Have No Voice (2000) by Sami MohammadContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait

Sami Mohammad is a Kuwaiti sculptor and artist. He is most known for his bronze sculptures. Most of his artwork deals with the ideas of freedom, oppression, genocide and suffering.

Victim Rose (2011) by Dia AzzawiContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait

A socially and politically committed artist, Azzawi focuses on human conditions as well as the history and politics of the Arab world. His work is nourished by popular culture and folkloric mythologies, contemporary wars and the violence embedded in the history of Iraq. From Mesopotamian literature to contemporary politics, the artist’s body of work is an artistic response to both the human capacity to build civilizations and to our power of destruction.

Distant Villages (2008) by Chaouki ChoukiniContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait

Chaouki Choukini is a Paris-based Lebanese sculptor who creates distinctive, multiscalar sculptures in exotic hardwoods and bronze. Born in Lebanon, he studied art at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts.

His sculptures function as windows to his childhood and the landscape of South Lebanon, and architectural foundations abound in the oftentimes detailed nature of sculptures. Tensions between corners, edges and cubist elements, juxtaposed with softly layered biomorphic forms are central to his oeuvre, along with references to Japanese minimalist aesthetics.

King Che (2008) by Fadi YazigiContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait

Yazigi provides his own interpretation of celebrated Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara portraying him as a dreamer with an innocent, upturned smiling face.

Smiling by Veronique GuerrieriContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait

Guerrieri's piece provides commentary based around the theme of the "Baby King" a one-child expose which was a huge success in China and Japan. This collection was inspired by her interest in "Jizo" sculptures displayed in Shinto temples in Japan.

Balloon Dog (yellow) (2015) by Jeff KoonsContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait

Balloon Dog is an iconic work within the highly acclaimed Celebration series, which Jeff Koons began in the mid 1990s. The Celebration artworks reference certain times of year (holidays and birthdays) but also the celebration of the cycle of life. What else could suggest the cheer of children’s parties more eloquently than a colorful balloon, twisted into the instantly recognizable form of a dog. According to the artist, It is about celebration and childhood and color and simplicity – but it’s also a Trojan horse. It’s a Trojan horse to the whole body of art work . Balloon Dog has the profoundness of an archaic sculpture. The monumental Balloon Dog sculptures were made from precision engineered mirror polished stainless steel and finished with a transparent coating of either blue, magenta, orange, red, or yellow. Despite its ten-foot and one ton metal, no detail was spared in the rendering of the Balloon Dog’s form. The artist’s exacting standards are one of the most captivating aspects of Koons’s art as captured in the porcelain Balloon Dog (Yellow), which simulates the mirror-polished stainless steel of the monumental sculpture with its metallic yellow finish and then attached to a reflective porcelain plate.

Air Strike - from the Soleless Series (2010) by Aya HaidarContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait

This piece from the Soleless series has been produced in response to a 3 month artist residency program, working directly in reintegrating newly arrived Syrian refugee communities into the UK.

From this experience, first-hand accounts and interpersonal exchanges over the perilous passages ventured, stories of separation, loss and every day realities are intimately embroidered on the underside of worn shoes.

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