Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix presents the second solo exhibition of Radouan Zeghidour at the gallery with mixed-media installations using a wide range of materiel including metal, plaster, fabric, wax, photography and video.
Zeghidour’s work draws its inspiration from the idea of travelling, the desire to travel, and to travel to somewhere unknown, into an abyss from where there may not be a way to return. The artist explores uncharted locations, deep into the night, often illicitly, as if in search of the act of transgression itself, or in search of himself. The drive for these nocturnal quests is essentially existential, leading him to delve into past civilisations, real and imagined, and their ruins, conjured up in the underworld of the city’s after hours, when all the mortals and their activities are effaced into oblivion.
The installations at Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix offer a glimpse into this complex universe, somewhere between physical and metaphysical. Jardin Secret, a piece depicting a gate to the world beyond, is a large semi-transparent panel with three sections supported by metal chassis. The middle section features plaster bas-relief of elegant classical figures, below which lies a photograph of a gigantic rusty industrial machinery found in Paris underground, printed on industrial metal sheet.
Zeghidour’s body of work is a nod to the sombre state of being maybe inspired by dark or tenebrous novels such as Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Demons by Dostoevsky, or the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. Yet his world is not that of despair or nihilism, rather it is a highly emotional and personal take on life and an act of self-reflection. His work exudes hope and anticipation, however fragile they may be. In this instance, it resonates with Romanticism as the artist claims, and translates a Romantic view of 21st century urban society.
Radouan Zeghidour: LXXV Chants de Sirènes
7 June – 1 August 2019
Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix
19 Goulston St, London, E1 7TP
Open Wednesday – Saturday, 11am – 6pm
General enquiries
info@yamamotokeiko.com
+44 20 7247 1167
Image: Radouane Zeghidour, Au bout de la Nuit, 2018.
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