New video by Mounir Fatmi at Teien Art Museum, Tokyo.

2018/11/24

Exotic x Modern: French Art Deco and inspiration afar presents Mounir Fatmi’s newly produced video “Human Factor”.

As his solo show at Art Front Gallery toward the end of 2017 showed the “Periphery Vision” the through his installation and photos. This time, he prolonged into the old days of 1920 in search for periphery of that time, the North Africa and Indochina, decomposing “L’inhumaine” by Marcel L’herbier (1923) considered as manifesto of Art Deco. Fatmi grouped the creator such as Paul Poiret in the gorgeous and modern installation of that time, while trying to show another facet of Art Deco influenced by colonial influence.

In fact, according to Fatmi, great painters as Henri Matisse or Paul Clee stayed in North Africa for their creation, and it is well known that African masks were the inspiring source for Picasso or Fernand Leger. Also it should be noted that Surrealists were anti-colonial movement although they were contemporary to these movements. Fatmi tries to show the link between primitivism and colonial Art Deco through his “Human Factor”.

So far, Fatmi has tried to present his multi-rooted identity by means of experimental videos. Going back to the twenties and thirties this, he shed light to another “periphery” in the history. As he believes, a culture can only exist viewed from another angle or culture. Geometrical drawing overlapped with the beautiful art deco scenery will give you a feeling of newly produced fragments of vision.

For available works of Fatmi, please visit artist page of Art Front Gallery: Click here

■EXOTIC × MODERN: French Art Deco and inspiration afar
Dates：Saturday, 6 October, 2018 - Monday, 14 January, 2019
Venue:Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum(5-21-9, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Opening Times:10：00–18：00 (Last admission: 17:30)
Nov. 23, 24, 30 and Dec. 1, 7, 8 opening until 20:00 (Last admission at 19:30)
Closed:Closed on Oct.10 & 24, Nov. 14 & 28, Dec.12 & 26, Dec. 28 – Jan. 4 & Jan. 9
Website : https://www.teien-art-museum.ne.jp/en/