Omar Imam (Damascus, 1979) is an Amsterdam-based, visual artist, and Rijksakademie alumni. In his sculptures, short films, and photographic works, Imam uses irony and a conceptual approach to respond to war, its consequences and causes. Imam’s photographs vacillate between mundane documents and utterly inconceivable dreams. His project "Live, Love, Refugee" has been shown in 16 countries around the world. Omar is represented by Catherine Edelman Gallery
2018/2019 Artist - in - Residence, Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten , Amsterdam
Collections
The Joseph M. Cohen Family Collection , New York City, NY
The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Main Exhibitions 2019 Stateless. Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) . Chicago Chobi Mela. Dhaka, Bangladesh The Shortest Distance Between Us. Dubai Photoville . New York Rijksakademie open studio. Amsterdam Orde en chaos. Amersfoort CBK. Amsterdam Edelman gallery. Chicago La Biennale des photographes du monde arabe contemporain. Paris Art Miami L’Institut du Monde Arabe présente la troisième Biennale des photographes du monde arabe contemporain du 11 septembre 2019 au 24 novembre 2019.
In “Live, Love, Refugee” Omar dissolves the recurrent representation of Syrian refugees by replacing numbers, reports, and statistics with hallucinations, fears, and dreams. He asks them to recreate their dreams: dreams of escape dreams of emasculation, and dreams of love and terror. Sparse and surrealistic, the resulting images evoke the deepest and darkest inner worlds of those persisting every day with their roots stretching further from a home left behind. Nederlands: In “Live, Love, Refugee” verbreekt Imam de terugkerende representatie van Syrische vluchtelingen door nummers, rapporten en statistieken te vervangen door door hallucinaties, angsten en dromen. Hij vraagt hen om hun dromen opnieuw vorm te geven: dromen over ontsnapping, dromen over verzwakking, en dromen over liefde en terreur. Ijl en surrealistisch, leggen de beelden de diepste en donkerste binnenwerelden bloot van zij die elke dag doorzetten, hun wortels steeds verder uitrekkend naar een achtergelaten thuis.