X,2023.
Clay and fabric.
(Tribute to David Hammons)
Produced in collaboration with Atef Maatallah
The sculpture X
presents a copy modeled in clay of an ancient Punic mask-like funerary object
(in the collection of the Bardo National Museum in Tunis), clad in a “hoodie”,
a piece of clothing that can be drawn down to shield the face from harsh
weather or recognition. A tribute to David Hammons’ ‘In the Hood’ (1993), the
work draws together the structural racism and policing experienced by black men
in the Unites States with that experienced by exiles from the African continent
in Europe. The Punic face forms a disturbing smile under the hoodie, speaking
to movements of people across the millennia. Hidden in Hammons there is also
the god Ammon.