X,2023.
Clay and fabric.
(Tribute to David Hammons)
Produced in collaboration with Atef Maatallah

The sculpture X presents a copy modelled in clay of an ancient Punic mask-like funerary object (in the collection of the Bardo 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.
Nidhal Chamekh © Adagp 2024