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Baró Galeria, Palma

Breaking the Cycle, 2023
 

Breaking the Cycle

BARO Galeria, Palma

June 08 - July 15, 2023

 

You can find the catalog at this link:

English edition

 

Spanish edition

 

Baró Galeria is delighted to present “Breaking the Cycle”, mounir fatmi’s first solo exhibition in their gallery in Palma de Mallorca, within the frame of Art Palma Summer on 8 June 2023.

 

The exhibition is a reflection on the need to break from pre-established patterns, habits and repetitive cycles that often govern us without our awareness. The pieces presented in “Breaking the Cycle” invite viewers to explore how in breaking conventional cycles, we are rewarded with awareness causing a meaningful change of perspective.

 

fatmi engages in various ways of breaking cycles, whether by deconstructing symbols and clichés, detaching from norms and conventions, or by highlighting the complexity and ambiguity of our behavior, and our relationships. Part of the works play with the notion of transformation, causing us to question our perception of time and space. Others offer a reflection of the symbiotic relationship between the individual and society, showing how behaviors and attitudes of some influence others. 

 

By breaking this cycle, the artist encourages us to get out of our comfort zone and explore new horizons, to consider different perspectives, to see the world from a new angle. The exhibition is a deep reflection on the contradictions of contemporary society, a call to action, an incentive to reflect on all the events that change our lives daily.

 

The exhibition opens with a visually impactful installation, Oil, Oil, Oil, Oil, made up of black paint-soaked ‘agals’ that fall to the ground. Said installation alludes to a clear sign of rampant consumerism and excessive use of oil that characterizes our society. This installation suggests the idea of a world where accumulation and consumption have become the main objective of existence, to the detriment of the quality of life, the world and the well-being of people. The installation reflects on the need to find sustainable alternatives, begging a reconsideration of our model of economic development and its environmental consequences. 

 

fatmi also addresses the issue of the speed of industrialization and the growth of cities, which is seen today in the rapid development of the Middle East. Cities are being built in the desert, with buildings put up so fast that there is no time to reflect on the changes they cause. In the video Speed City, fatmi explores how buildings and public spaces can become tools of oppression. The artist highlights how the design of architecturally spectacular buildings can be used as a political strategy ignoring any ecological considerations.

 

Referring to September 11, the installation Save Manhattan, composed of VHS cassettes, recalls the New York skyline before the collapse of the Twin Towers. This installation highlights the tension that reigned at that time, the fear felt all over the world in the face of terrorist threat. The work is a critical analysis of architecture as a target of attack in times of ideological crisis and invites the audience to consider how fear can condition the way we live and see other human beings. 

 

Brainteaser for Moderate Muslim is a series of sculptures inspired by the Rubik’s Cube, that looks at the relationship of a believer to an object of worship. It studies the ritual gesture accomplished by the believer during the pilgrimage to Mecca, namely the circumambulation around the Kaaba (“cube”). The logical game is conceived as a representation of the monument of worship (the Kaaba), emulating its black color and ornamentation on its superior section by a calligraphic frieze expressing the Muslim profession of faith. In this way, fatmi compares, with what can be perceived as humor or even irony, the irrational profession of faith of a believer walking in circles around the cube in Mecca with the rational, logical, and mathematic strategies of a player trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube. 

 

Finally, the black & white self-portraits from the series, Peripheral Vision, show the artist’s face partly disappearing behind a large white geometry protractor; but his eyes remain visible thanks to two holes in the center of the measuring instrument. The futuristic aesthetic of this image suggests an avant-garde approach, conceived as a manner of questioning the way we look at what surrounds us, a new awareness of what connects us to the world and of the comprehension of its limits.

 

 

Baró Galeria, July 2023

 
Expositions personnelles I Solo shows (selection)
 
Baró Galeria 2023Wilde Gallery 2022Ceysson & Bénétière 2022
Musée La Kasbah 2022Es Baluard Museu 2022Conrads Gallery 2021
Officine dell'Immagine 2021ADN 2021Skanstull Metro Station 2019
Analix Forever 2019Ceysson & Bénétière 2019Wilde Gallery 2019
CDAN 2018Göteborgs Konsthall 2018Art Front Gallery 2017
Officine dell'Immagine 2017Galerie De Multiples 2017Analix Forever Gallery 2017
Jane Lombard Gallery 2017Galerie Delacroix 2017Goodman Gallery 2017
Lawrie Shabibi 2017Analix Forever Gallery 2017Maisons des Arts du Grütli 2017
ADN Platform 2016Keitelman Gallery 2016Labanque 2016
MMP+ 2016MAMCO 2015MIAMIBUS 2015
Analix Forever 2015CCC Tours 2014ADN Galeria 2014
ADN Platform 2014Analix Forever 2014Yvon Lambert 2014
Museum Kunst Palast 2013 Keitelman Gallery 2013Paradise Row 2013
Institut Français de Casablanca 2013Galerie Fatma Jellal 2013Analix Forever 2013
Goodman Gallery 2012Shoshana Wayne Gallery 2012 Lombard-Fried Projects 2012
Galerie Conrads 2011Fondazione Collegio San Carlo 2011Galerie Hussenot 2011
AKBank Sanat 2011Galerie Hussenot 2010Galerie Conrads 2009
FRAC Alsace 2009Galerie Delacroix IFM 2008Creux de l'enfer 2008
Galerie Ferdinand van Dieten 2007Musée national Pablo Picasso 2007Shoshana Wayne Gallery 2007
La maison rouge 2007Lombard Freid projects 2007Bank galerie 2006
CAC d'Istres 2005 Espace des arts Colomiers 2004 CAC Le Parvis 2004
Migros museum 2003
 
Biennales & Triennales I Biennials, Triennials (selection)
 
Setouchi Triennale 2022Altai Biennale 2020SCREEN IT - Stadstriennale Hasselt Genk 5, 2019
Setouchi Triennale 201913eme Biennale de Dakar 20187th Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale 2018
1er Biennale de Rabat 201857th Venice Biennale 20177eme Biennale Architecture, Shenzhen 2017
11eme Biennale de Bamako 201715eme Biennale d'art contemporain Alios! 2017Biennale Poznan 2016
Setouchi Triennale 201610èmes Rencontres de Bamako 20155th Thessaloniki Biennale 2015
16th Media art Biennale Wro 20151st Trio Biennale, Rio de Janeiro 20152nd Bodrum Biennial 2015
Fotofest Biennial 20145th Auckland Triennial 201310th Dakar Biennial 2012
White House Biennial 2013Manif d'Art 6 20123rd Thessaloniki Biennial 2011
11th Lyon Biennial 201154th Venice Biennial 2011XIIth Cairo Biennial 2010
1st Mediterranean Biennial of Haifa 2010Port Izmir 2, international triennial of contemporary art 20109th Dakar Biennial 2010
Biennale Cuvée 2010 Xth Lyon Biennial 2009Art Tel Aviv 2009
9èmes Rencontres de Bamako 2009 1st Brussels Biennial 2008Pontevedra Biennial 2008
24th Biennial Memorial of Nadezda Petrovic 20071st Luanda Triennial 2007 52th Venice Biennial 2007
8th Sharjah Biennial 2007 2nd Seville Biennial 2006 Gwangju biennial 2004
7th Dakar Biennial 20064th Dakar Biennial 20007th Biennal Art Media 1999
 
Expositions collectives I Group shows (selection)
 
Cobra Museum 2022Brooklyn Museum 2021Fondation Boghossian 2021
Museo Reina Sofía, 2021Iselp 2021Es Baluard 2021
Fondation Boghossian 2020La Galerie 38 2020Sala de la Provincia de la Diputacion 2020
MOCAK 2020Ceysson & Bénétière 2020Goodman Gallery 2020
Palais de Tokyo 2020American University in Cairo 2020Musée des Confluences 2020
Fondation Boghossian 2019MAMA 2019Ceysson & Bénétière 2019
Maison Populaire 2019Bedford Gallery 2019 Evliyagil Museum 2019
Jane Lombard 2019James Cohan 2019Mathaf 2018
MACAAL 2018Fondation Boghossian 2018Sammlung Philara 2018
Nasher Museum of Art 2018Ellen Noël Art Museum 2018Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea 2018
MOCAK 2018Bozar Center for fine arts 2018Philharmonie de Paris 2018
The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery 2018Goodman Gallery 2018Institut Français de Saint Louis 2018
Pensacola Museum of Art 2018 Von der Heydt-Kunsthalle 2018Gifu Museum 2017
Huntsville Museum of Art 2017Bandjoun Station 2017Institut des Cultures d’Islam 2017
Bellevue Arts Museum 2017Mudac 2017Primo Marella Gallery 2017
Goodman Gallery 2017MACAAL 2017Museum De Wieger 2017
Conrads Gallery 2017Galerie Ceysson & Bénétière 2017Keitelman Gallery 2017
Musée du Pays de Hanau 2017Château de Servières 2017CEAA 2017
Fondazione Fotografia Modena 2017H&R Block Artspace 2017Bedford Gallery 2016
Beijing Today Art Museum 2016Hôtel des Arts 2016Museum of Old and New Art 2016
Labanque 2016Les Photaumnales 2016Al Maaden 2016
Kunsthalle Faust 2016Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg 2016Archives Nationales 2016
Bardo National Museum 2016Arles 2016Musée d'Art Moderne de Troyes 2016
Rotor 2016Goodman Gallery 2016Musée Bartholdi 2016
Institut d’Art Contemporain 2016Santander Art Gallery 2016Brandts & Viborg Kunsthal 2016
Fondazione VIDEOINSIGHT 2015A Tale of a Tub 2015Contemporary Istanbul 2015
ADMAF 2015Goodman Gallery 2015Keitelman Gallery 2015
Galeria Municipal do Porto 2015Fabra i Coats 2015AMOCA 2015
Monastère Royal de Brou 2015CAC La Traverse 2015FRAC Franche-Comté 2015
ZKM 2015The National Library 2015Station 2015
La FabriC - Fondation Salomon 2015Van Abbemuseum 2015The Brooklyn Museum 2015
MMP+ 2015Sharjah Museum 2015Kamel Lazaar Foundation 2015
Sextant & + 2015Gwangju Museum of Art 2014QAGOMA 2014
N.B.K. 2014CAyT Centro de Arte y Technologia 2014Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery 2014
Station 2014Institut du Monde Arabe 2014Art Gallery of Western Australia 2014
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art 2014Palais de Tokyo 2014L'art dans les chapelles 2013
MAD Museum 2013Marseille - Provence 2013V&A Museum 2013
30 ans des FRAC 2013MAC Marseille 2013MAXXI 2013
Museu de Arte Moderna de Salvador de Bahia 2012Institut du Monde Arabe 2012Edge of Arabia 2012
Apexart 2012B.P.S. 22 2012Dorsky Gallery 2012
International Center of Graphic Arts 2012Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art 2011Fondation Blachère 2011
Brooklyn Museum 2011Dublin Contemporary 2011Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts 2011
Museum on the Seam 2011Tri Postal Lille 2011Meeting Point 6 2011
The New School 2010Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil 2010Fondazione Fotografia Modena 2010
Aargauer Kunsthaus 2010KAdE 2010Kunst Museum Bochum 2010
Moscow museum of modern art 2010Art Gallery of Ontario 2010Fondation Gulbenkian 2009
Centro de Arte de Santa Monica 2009Beirut Art Center 2009Salina Art Center 2009
Kunstverein Medienturm Ilz 2008Te Papa museum 2008Studio Museum Harlem 2008
Haus der Kunst 2008Centre Pompidou 2008CAAM 2008
Centro de Arte de Santa Monica 2008Johannesburg Art Gallery 2007CAC Le Parvis 2006
CAPC musée d'art contemporain 2006Bank Galerie 2006Les Abattoirs 2006
Moderna museet 2006Mori art museum 2006Wereldmuseum 2005
Centre Pompidou 2005The Stenersen Museum 2005Saw gallery 2005
Konstmuseum 2005Hayward Gallery 2005Museum Kunst Palast 2004
Tri Postal Lille 20042nd international contemporary art meeting 2003Espacio C 2002
O.N.A. Foundation 1999CAC Castres 1999Musée des beaux-arts de Dôle 1999
Musée des arts décoratifs 1999  
 
interventions publiques I public space projects (selection)
 
metavilla 2015Collateral Project to the 12th Havana Biennial 2015Prison Qara Meknès 2015
Art Paris 2015Analix Forever 2014Sculpture Beach Art Dubai 2013
Le Printemps de Septembre 2012Narracje 4 2012Ivry 2010
FIAC Tuileries 2010 Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt 2004