A buoyant burst of summer has arrived at ICD Brookfield Place in Dubai, where Craig & Karls latest installation, Under the Sun, transforms the buildings airy atrium into a sky-high gathering of cheerful inflatables. Sprouting overhead, the smiling forms convene like a suspended pool party, infusing the vaulted space with color and light-hearted energy.
We wanted to capture the warmth, vibrancy, and joy of summerdistilled into one space and experienced from within the expansive summer garden atrium. A way to bring the season indoors, the pair write about the project. True to that aim, the immersive scene assembles hot-weather hallmarksflowers, beach balls, inner tubes, and a radiant suninto a playful canopy. The work is the newest installment in Craig & Karls Mateys universe, an ever-growing population of inflatable characters that pop up in unexpected places. Whether springing up on a bridge or, as here, dangling high above a concourse, the expressive figures nudge often-overlooked architecture toward whimsy.
Collaboration across continents
Craig & Karl continue to produce their projects from different citiesCraig in New York and Karl in Londonsustaining a process that spans time zones yet remains tightly conversational. As they describe it, their collaborations unfold as a two-way conversation from the initial idea through to completion, with each of us throwing things out, building on the others ideas, and knowing when something feels right. That ease is rooted in a relationship that began in college, where they spent significant time sharing a studio and built the bond and trust that underpin their current practice.
In Dubai, that rapport manifests in forms that are exuberant without crowding the architecture, inviting viewers to look up and linger. The Mateys characters bring levity to the site, turning the atrium into an indoor tableau of sunny motifs that echo the season the artists set out to evoke.
Craig & Karl share their globe-trotting projects on Instagram, where their cast of inflatable personalities continues to expand across cities and settings.
