02.
   
   
 


◼ Installations
◼ Videos
◼ Photographs
◼ Sculptures
◼ Drawings
◼ Collages
◼ Paintings
◼ Performances
◼ Public spaces
◼ Sounds
◼ Games
◼ Writings
◼ Multiples
09.
Collages
download PDF
 

'' There is a part of one canvas that feels like a study into the twilight skies, with deep blue carpet fragments embroidered with gold that rhythmically moves around the edges. ''


Blaire Dessent, January 2017


  • Around the Square 05,08,06
    Exhibition view from Abu Dhabi Art, 2018, Abu Dhabi.
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the Square 11
    Exhibition view from Abu Dhabi Art, 2018, Abu Dhabi.
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the Square 17, 18
    Exhibition view from Luxembourg ART WEEK, 2018, Luxembourg.
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the Square 17,18
    Exhibition view from Luxembourg ART WEEK, 2018, Luxembourg.
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 19
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 20
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 21
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 22
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 23
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 24
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 25
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 26
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 27
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 28
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 29
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 30
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 31
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 32
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 33
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 34
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 35
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 36
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 37
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 38
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 39
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 40
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 41
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 42
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 43
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 44
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 45
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 46
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 47
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 48
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 49
    Courtesy of the artist.

  • Around the square 50
    Courtesy of the artist.


Around the Square

Around the Square is a series of textile collages entirely constructed with fragments of Muslim prayer rugs. In earlier collage works of the same medium, such as Compositions or Mechanization, the circle is one of the dominant forms across the canvas, serving as a symbol of movement, machinery, and cohesion, but in this body of work, the only form used is the square.



 




     
Around the Square

Around the Square

In each canvas, the center square is an image of the Kaaba, the most holy of squares in Muslim culture. The gradation of color and patterning of the individual fragments leads us to this core form, and yet, despite the clear geometry of the square in each canvas, our eye moves in a circular motion, around the squares, bringing to mind the circular movements of religious pilgrims walking around the Square of Mecca.

Around the Square

There is a visual game going on in Around the Square, which resembles the sliding square puzzle known as the “jeu de taquin,” literally translated from the French as, “the teasing game,” in which small squares are moved up and down to form a specific sequence of numbers. Rather than numbers, here we have an urge to want to line up the disconnected shapes and colors to try to form a completed pattern.

Around the Square

Is Fatmi linking the idea of pilgrimage and prayer to a game, or is it religion itself that is the game and we pilgrims its individual parts? This subtly implied connection underscores Fatmi’s interest pushing the limits in what an image can be and reminding the viewer how even minute manipulations can alter meaning and intention.