Focus: Soufiane Ababri
28 April – 26 May, 2020
It is in his bed, lying down, that Soufiane Ababri makes his "bed works". In essence, he examines the ambivalence of a society that is criss-crossed by tensions that are not so much the reflection of its contradictions, but rather of its complementarity. His heritage lies in his own story, built up by layer upon layer of personal and intimate events. A lover of sociology, Ababri’s entire body of work plays with the idea of seeing: the artist observes a world that observes him in a form of introspection combining his own unique perception, shared representations and accepted social facts in an exercise that is reminiscent of Persian miniatures and their subtle play with what is hidden and what is revealed.
“I deeply believe that being part of a sexual and ethnic minority gives you a different view of the world. I believe even more that my work must be filled with “I” and allow me and my experience to assert that my view of art history, and history in general, is absolutely not like that of the majority. Then, for me, there’s also the question of urgency, to address issues related to visibility and the under-representation of sexual minorities and ethnic and disadvantaged class in the history of art. Heteronormative and white manhood have for a long time been the only points of view taken seriously in art. With my drawings and performance, I try to reverse this without reusing the forms of violence that have dominated me, and continue to do so.”
Soufiane Ababri
Bed Work, 2020
Color pencil on paper
69,5 x 103 cm
(27 3/8 x 40 9/16 in)
Soufiane Ababri
Bed Work, 2019
Color pencil on paper
70 x 70 cm
(27 1/2 x 27 1/2 in)
Soufiane Ababri
Bed Work, 2019
Color pencil on paper
70 x 70 cm
(27 1/2 x 27 1/2 in)
“The bed is a place of rest, of love, of suffering and at times of death. It’s a non-professional space where some people are ashamed to admit that they have spent too much time. But for me, it’s also a place where the Orientalist painters dominated by laying down women, slaves and Arabs as a symbol of control. To be in bed is also a statement in relation to the history of art, to dominated or marginalised sexual minorities. I refer to my contemporaries like Felix Gonzalez Torres, Franz West… or Marguerite Durasand Sarah Lucas who talk of reclaiming their domestic space as being an outward expression of their interior space.
From the bed, I look for a direct promiscuity with no recoiling, which is established through the drawing. In the gesture and simplicity of a flat drawing, with neither perspective nor depth, everything is at the same level; the corners are folded and twisted.”
Soufiane Ababri
Bed Work, 2020
Color pencil on paper
61 x 76 cm
(24 x 29 7/8 in)
Soufiane Ababri
Bed Work, 2017
Color pencil on paper
32 x 24 cm
(12 1/2 x 9 1/2 in)
Soufiane Ababri
Bed Work, 2017
Color pencil on paper
32 x 24 cm
(12 1/2 x 9 1/2 in)
Soufiane Ababri
Bed Work, 2017
Color pencil on paper
32 x 24 cm
(12 1/2 x 9 1/2 in)
Soufiane Ababri
Bed Work, 2017
Color pencil on paper
60 x 50 cm
(27 1/8 x 21 1/2 in)
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Soufiane Ababri (b. 1985 in Rabat, Morocco) lives and works between Paris FR and Tangier MA. In 2010 he graduated from the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Montpellier and in 2014 he completed his studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Ababri's work has been included in numerous exhibitions including MAC/VAL, Vitry FR; SPACE, London UK; Glassbox, Paris FR; MoCo, Montpellier FR; Biennale de Lyon, Lyon FR; Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris FR amongst others. In 2021 his work will be included in the Glasgow International Festival for Contemporary Art. His work is included in the collections of the MAC/VAL, FRAC Pays de la Loire and FRAC Poitou-Charente