Faycal Baghriche Souvenir

Fayçal Baghriche, Souvenir, 2012, illuminated terrestrial globe, motor, ø 40 cm, H: 75 cm, Edition 8 + 2 AP

The artist‘s role as a collector of narratives and objects is highlighted in his work Souvenir, an illuminated terrestrial globe, which has been fitted with a motor and turns so fast that it is impossible to make out the contours of the continents and the demarcations of the countries.
Faycal Baghriche Imperfections

Fayçal Baghriche, Imperfections, 2010-12, felt pen on glass, framed, variable dimensions

The series Imperfections consists of pieces of glass salvaged in a picture framer‘s workshop. The framed glass pieces show the framer‘s hand-marked circles around defaults on the glasses which he means to use for his frames. Baghriche used these spontaneous marks to reconsider the gesture that generated the graphic form. This action shows how he values those things that others find uninteresting or invaluable and dispose of.
TRY 1000 79 QUALITY

Fayçal Baghriche, Akoah, 2012, wax, plaster, 93 x 36 x 55 cm, Edition 3 + 2 AP

Akoah raises the question of how a found object functions in a new context. The figure (H: 93 cm) is the mold of a rescue dummy used in swimming pools for rescue training. Baghriche’s cast is made of the wax, which normally disappears during the process of casting bronze. Seen in a new context and with the wax pipes, which are objects used in the intermediary process of casting, still in place the vacuous expression of the figure opens up a space of new evaluation and interpretation.

Faycal Baghriche Family Friendly 1

Fayçal Baghriche, Family Friendly (Conn.des.arts.Mars.2012.p123), 2012, two pages taken from two different copies of a magazine, framed, each 31 x 23.5 cm, unique

The series Family Friendly consists of a collection of diptyques of images taken from international art magazines found in Dubai. In the UAE, like in many Muslim countries, images of nudity are prohibited in the public sphere and are hidden underneath hand-made ink marks. Baghriche has extracted an identical image from two different copies of the same magazine to produce a diptyque that shows the action of the hand on the magazine. Each image becomes unique. The artist is interested in the aesthetic value of these new objects, artworks made by people who are not artists.
Faycal Baghriche Family Friendly 2

Fayçal Baghriche, Family Friendly (Art.Forum.Summer.2012.p54), 2012, two pages taken from two different copies of a magazine, framed, each 28.5 x 28.5 cm, unique

The series Family Friendly consists of a collection of diptyques of images taken from international art magazines found in Dubai. In the UAE, like in many Muslim countries, images of nudity are prohibited in the public sphere and are hidden underneath hand-made ink marks. Baghriche has extracted an identical image from two different copies of the same magazine to produce a diptyque that shows the action of the hand on the magazine. Each image becomes unique. The artist is interested in the aesthetic value of these new objects, artworks made by people who are not artists.
Faycal Baghriche Family Friendly 3

Fayçal Baghriche, Family Friendly (Art.Forum.Summer.2012.p303), 2012, two pages taken from two different copies of a magazine, framed, each 28.5 x 28.5 cm, unique

The series Family Friendly consists of a collection of diptyques of images taken from international art magazines found in Dubai. In the UAE, like in many Muslim countries, images of nudity are prohibited in the public sphere and are hidden underneath hand-made ink marks. Baghriche has extracted an identical image from two different copies of the same magazine to produce a diptyque that shows the action of the hand on the magazine. Each image becomes unique. The artist is interested in the aesthetic value of these new objects, artworks made by people who are not artists.
Faycal Baghriche Elective Purification French Version

Fayçal Baghriche, Elective Purification (French version), 2004/13, variable materials and dimensions, CD file, color sample, unique per language

Elective Purification seems at first glance to be a completely irregular, random arrangement. In fact, the image is a vastly enlarged page from a dictionary, representing all the flags of the world, on which the artist has used blue paint to obliterate everything except their stars. The work involves the deliberate blurring or erasing of specific elements, disrupting our perception of conventional images and national symbols.“  

                                                                                          - Didier Ottinger - Adjunct Director Centre Pompidou Paris


Elective Purification is derived from the pages of an encyclopaedia dedicated to national flags. Encyclopaedias are published in many languages. The countries and their respective flags are listed according to the alphabetical order of each language making Elective Purification likewise available in several languages. Elective Purification has been shown at the Pan-Arab Pavilion of the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011, the OK Center for Contemporary Art Linz in 2013, and the Fondation Boghossian Brussels in 2013-14.
Faycal Baghriche Elective Purification English Version

Fayçal Baghriche, Elective Purification (English version), 2004/13, variable materials and dimensions, CD file, color sample, unique per language

Elective Purification seems at first glance to be a completely irregular, random arrangement. In fact, the image is a vastly enlarged page from a dictionary, representing all the flags of the world, on which the artist has used blue paint to obliterate everything except their stars. The work involves the deliberate blurring or erasing of specific elements, disrupting our perception of conventional images and national symbols.“

                                                                           - Didier Ottinger - Adjunct Director Centre Pompidou Paris

Elective Purification is derived from the pages of an encyclopaedia dedicated to national flags. Encyclopaedias are published in many languages. The countries and their respective flags are listed according to the alphabetical order of each language making Elective Purification likewise available in several languages. Elective Purification has been shown at the Pan-Arab Pavilion of the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011; OK Center for Contemporary Art Linz in 2013; and the Fondation Boghossian Brussels in 2013-14.
Faycal Baghriche Elective Purification Sharjah Version

Fayçal Baghriche, Elective Purification (Sharjah version), 2004/13, variable materials and dimensions, CD file, color sample, unique per language

Elective Purification seems at first glance to be a completely irregular, random arrangement. In fact, the image is a vastly enlarged page from a dictionary, representing all the flags of the world, on which the artist has used blue paint to obliterate everything except their stars. The work involves the deliberate blurring or erasing of specific elements, disrupting our perception of conventional images and national symbols.“

                                                                                          - Didier Ottinger - Adjunct Director Centre Pompidou Paris

Elective Purification is derived from the pages of an encyclopaedia dedicated to national flags. Encyclopaedias are published in many languages. The countries and their respective flags are listed according to the alphabetical order of each language making Elective Purification likewise available in several languages. Elective Purification has been shown at the Pan-Arab Pavilion of the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011; OK Center for Contemporary Art Linz in 2013; and the Fondation Boghossian Brussels in 2013-14.
Faycal Baghriche Mecca

Fayçal Baghriche, Mecca, 2012, pigment inkjet print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl, 110 x 135 cm, framed 114.5 x 138.5 cm, Edition 5 + 2 AP

Mecca features a deserted cinema set, installed near Ouarzazate, Morocco, which was used in the shooting of the movie Journey to Mecca, In the Footsteps of Ibn Battuta directed by Bruce Neibaur in 2009. The work acknowledges the mystery of what Islamic culture holds to be the most important holy site of pilgrimage. Seeing this familiar structure presented out of context raises questions with regard to the power of religious symbolism.

Faycal Baghriche Feiko

Fayçal Baghriche, Feikô, 2012, gold replica of an emergency blanket, brass, gold, 150 x 200 cm

Feikô is a gold replica of an everyday emergency blanket. The Greek word “Feikô” signifies “a like reproduction”.
Emergency blankets are gold-coloured and made of a metal-coated polyester. Protecting against extreme temperatures, the blankets are commonly used by first aid and rescue services to envelope people in distress. Shrouded in a golden cloak, the individuals suddenly appear rich and noble; a clear contrast to the their vulnerable state. The material’s ability to evoke these two contradicting ideas has lead the artist to envision a project which synthesises these contrasting notions and materialises them in a single object. This work is founded on the symbolic discord between two materials. The emergency blanket is an inexpensive object for single usage which evokes notions of insecurity and distress while gold is a symbol of power, stability, and eternity.
With the use of a rudimentary rhetoric, this work invites us to ponder on the relationship between wealth, the future and its instability.
Faycal Baghriche La Ifahm

Fayçal Baghriche, La ifham, 2006, neon, ca. 20 x 50 cm, Edition 5 + 2 AP

La Ifham is a neon written in Arabic. Baghriche himself does not speak or write Arabic and asked a friend to write the words “I do not understand” in Arabic script. He then sent the script to a company in China, where it was reproduced in the form of a neon sign. Throughout this entire process - given that those involved had no understanding of Arabic - the sign remained an abstract form without any evident meaning.

Faycal Baghriche Musallat Madinah

Fayçal Baghriche, Musallat Madinah, 2010, c-print, 60 x 75 cm, Edition 5 + 2 AP

"This series of photographs obeys a strict protocol similar to the fundamental concepts of objective photography established by Bernd and Hilla Becher. I visited muslim sites of prayer (musallats) in Montreal and set out to capture the spiritual charge in these places in the most neutral manner possible. Unlike the high places of Muslim worship which are sumptuous ornamented and dressed in gold, these places are humble, sober and manifest a quasi-hidden culture practice that transpires in western architecture.
I oriented the camera toward the place the imam leads prayer. As a result the camera points toward the Kibla."

                                                                                                                                                                      - Fayçal Baghriche
Faycal Baghriche Musallat Abou Bakr Asseddique

Fayçal Baghriche, Musallat Abou Bakr Asseddique, 2010, c-print, 60 x 75 cm, Edition 5 + 2 AP

"This series of photographs obeys a strict protocol similar to the fundamental concepts of objective photography established by Bernd and Hilla Becher. I visited muslim sites of prayer (musallats) in Montreal and set out to capture the spiritual charge in these places in the most neutral manner possible. Unlike the high places of Muslim worship which are sumptuous ornamented and dressed in gold, these places are humble, sober and manifest a quasi-hidden culture practice that transpires in western architecture.
I oriented the camera toward the place the imam leads prayer. As a result the camera points toward the Kibla."

                                                                                                                                           - Fayçal Baghriche
Faycal Baghriche Musallat Dar Al Arqam

Fayçal Baghriche, Musallat Dar Al-Arqam, 2010, c-print, 60 x 75 cm, Edition 5 + 2 AP

"This series of photographs obeys a strict protocol similar to the fundamental concepts of objective photography established by Bernd and Hilla Becher. I visited muslim sites of prayer (musallats) in Montreal and set out to capture the spiritual charge in these places in the most neutral manner possible. Unlike the high places of Muslim worship which are sumptuous ornamented and dressed in gold, these places are humble, sober and manifest a quasi-hidden culture practice that transpires in western architecture.
I oriented the camera toward the place the imam leads prayer. As a result the camera points toward the Kibla."

                                                                                                                            - Fayçal Baghriche

Faycal Baghriche Musallat Al Sunnah Al Nabawiah

Fayçal Baghriche, Musallat Al Sunnah Al Nabawiah, 2010, c-print, 60 x 75 cm, Edition 5 + 2 AP

"This series of photographs obeys a strict protocol similar to the fundamental concepts of objective photography established by Bernd and Hilla Becher. I visited muslim sites of prayer (musallats) in Montreal and set out to capture the spiritual charge in these places in the most neutral manner possible. Unlike the high places of Muslim worship which are sumptuous ornamented and dressed in gold, these places are humble, sober and manifest a quasi-hidden culture practice that transpires in western architecture.
I oriented the camera toward the place the imam leads prayer. As a result the camera points toward the Kibla."

                                                                                                                       - Fayçal Baghriche
Faycal Baghriche Musallat Yunus
Fayçal Baghriche, Musallat Yunus, 2010, c-print, 60 x 75 cm, Edition 5 + 2 AP
"This series of photographs obeys a strict protocol similar to the fundamental concepts of objective photography established by Bernd and Hilla Becher. I visited muslim sites of prayer (musallats) in Montreal and set out to capture the spiritual charge in these places in the most neutral manner possible. Unlike the high places of Muslim worship which are sumptuous ornamented and dressed in gold, these places are humble, sober and manifest a quasi-hidden culture practice that transpires in western architecture.
I oriented the camera toward the place the imam leads prayer. As a result the camera points toward the Kibla."
                                                                                                                 - Fayçal Baghriche

Faycal Baghriche Envelopments

Fayçal Baghriche, Envelopments, 2010, 28 country flags, dimensions variable; exhibition view Le Quartier, centre d’art contemporain de Quimper, 2010

"When rolled up these twenty-eight different country flags expose nothing but varying shades of red. Traditionally associated with blood, sacrifice, or revolution this colour grabs one’s attention but does not communicate any specific motif. In Envelopments, one recognises a logic found in other works by Fayçal Baghriche that reflects on the notion of state. (...) At a time when nations turn inward in a search for identity, the artist appropriates national symbols and invests them with new meaning."
 
                                                                                                                                                  - Didier Ottinger
Faycal Baghriche JOOJ

Fayçal Baghriche, JOOJ, 2010, wood, 60 x 100 x 15 cm, exhibiton view Le Quartier, centre d’art contemporain de Quimper, 2010

"This sculpture is composed of two butcher’s blocks. Fayçal Baghriche draws our attention to the gestures that fashion this everyday item not only in freeing them from their specific usage but also by inscribing the users’ identity in the items. The mirror layout of two thick wood masses worn by their usage create a new form: an ondulated surface whose centre the two distinct items seem to commune. The wood holds the traces of its history but also resembles a fossilised matter from another geological age."

Didier Ottinger
Fayçal Baghriche Actus Fidei

Fayçal Baghriche, Actus Fidei, 2012, wallpaper, dimensions variable

Faycal Baghriche Leap Into the Void

Fayçal Baghriche, Leap into the Void, 2005, photograph, 24 x 18 cm, framed