Driss Ouadahi
Algerian painter Driss Ouadahi has developed a unique visual vocabulary–a synthesis of structural design and modernist grid painting–with which he examines social, political and psychological aspects of Modernist urbanity. Ouadahi’s depictions of the ubiquitous high-rise, the legacy of Modern Architecture's failed promise to improve the human condition, emphasize its impenetrable boundaries of steel, glass, and concrete. The artist’s exploration begins with images of the enormous public housing developments in Algiers that had been modeled on France's habitation à loyer modéré (housing at moderated rents). In North Africa, these monoliths accommodate displaced rural populations; in Europe, they house immigrants from former colonies. Without revealing the inhabitants, the paintings nonetheless bring to mind the politics of class, religion, and ethnicity embodied within these structures. They are reminders of otherness.
He has had solo exhibitions at Centre d’Art Contemporain in Istres, Institut Français in Düsseldorf, Lawrie Shabibi Gallery in Dubai, Caroline Pagès Gallery in Lisbon, and Hosfelt Gallery in San Francisco, among others. His work has been included in group exhibitions at institutions including Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery at Haverford College, Institute de Monde Arab in Paris, Exit Art in New York, CU Art Museum at University of Colorado in Boulder, Les Abattoirs in …
Algerian painter Driss Ouadahi has developed a unique visual vocabulary–a synthesis of structural design and modernist grid painting–with which he examines social, political and psychological aspects of Modernist urbanity. Ouadahi’s depictions of the ubiquitous high-rise, the legacy of Modern Architecture's failed promise to improve the human condition, emphasize its impenetrable boundaries of steel, glass, and concrete. The artist’s exploration begins with images of the enormous public housing developments in Algiers that had been modeled on France's habitation à loyer modéré (housing at moderated rents). In North Africa, these monoliths accommodate displaced rural populations; in Europe, they house immigrants from former colonies. Without revealing the inhabitants, the paintings nonetheless bring to mind the politics of class, religion, and ethnicity embodied within these structures. They are reminders of otherness.
He has had solo exhibitions at Centre d’Art Contemporain in Istres, Institut Français in Düsseldorf, Lawrie Shabibi Gallery in Dubai, Caroline Pagès Gallery in Lisbon, and Hosfelt Gallery in San Francisco, among others. His work has been included in group exhibitions at institutions including Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery at Haverford College, Institute de Monde Arab in Paris, Exit Art in New York, CU Art Museum at University of Colorado in Boulder, Les Abattoirs in Toulouse, and Musée National d’Art moderne et contemporain d’Alger.
Courtesy of Hosfelt Gallery
