SISSI club, Marseille
Samir Laghouati-Rashwan
The SISSI club gallery is presenting a solo show by the artist Samir Laghouati-Rashwan, who lives and works in Marseille.
The show combines theoretical investigations and experiments in the visual arts with quinine and resin, and features a range of new sculptural works.
Laghouati-Rashwan’s research into quinine began in 2020, and has explored various forms of expression. Inspired by the installation in his film Neon Colony Bar, the artist is working on a sculpture made of wood and resin in the shape of a wall bar. The invitation to come and drink a cocktail will become the pretext for a transmission and a dialogue on the colonial history of this plant.
In parallel, a new series of resin sculptures, entitled ‘Only good vibes’, approaches the idea of slowness and the imagery of the low ride and lean – or purple drank – evoked by the choice of the mauve monochrome of the works and the scenography. By working with the properties of resin, its opacity and transparency, Laghouati-Raswhan influences our perception of iconography and the social and political histories contained in images that have been cut up, assembled and placed in comparison.
With irony, the archival and documentary work contained in these icons is revealed in a subtext that swings back and forth between confrontation and avoidance. Seemingly fun, colourful and convivial, this exhibition invites us to explore and digress into the reflections at the heart of Laghouati-Rashwan’s work.
