Latifa Echakhch

Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the background is slightly warmer in the original. Condition: The work is in very good condition. Visible only in certain lights, there is a faint stretcher bar impression running horizontally across the centre of the composition. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultraviolet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

“When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back into you”
Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 1886, Aphorism 146

Latifa Echakhch left Morocco for France at the age of three and now resides in Switzerland. Her grounding in different cultural centres has provoked an element of cultural nostalgia which now runs throughout her works, highlighting areas of absence and the Other. Addressing this issue, Echakhch creates a disconnect between cultural relics and their functional meaning thus altering their intentional connotations. As a metaphor for removing the veil of national and religious identity, these simple manipulations allow viewers to see objects in a new light, almost as if they were experiencing them for the first time.

In Tambour 39’ Echakhch drips jet-black ink onto a tondo,- a round painting traditionally mounted in the middle of a ceiling to represent heaven in Greek and Renaissance art – to create a deep and powerful abyss in the centre of the canvas. The ink motif is formed through a slow and laborious artistic process, being gradually dripped onto the canvas and so drawing allusions to great abstract expressionist painters such as Jackson Pollock. The use of ink here transcends its typical role as a medium for writing, instead its gradual application becomes a metaphor for the death of free speech; a black hole from which nothing can escape.