Décor
2011-2012
Razor wire
Variable dimensions
Four bodies of Christ, twisted and suffering, offer a spectacle that’s as mystical as it is painful. Tangles of barbed strips of galvanised steel razors, Décor blends weapons and wounds in a single body: not the body of Jesus with its tortured flesh, but a cold body that is just pain, the image of a flow of suffering that pervades each piece of metal.
These four natural size sculptures were created on the model of the Crucifixion of the Issenheim altarpiece, painted by Grünewald between 1512 and 1516. By creating it with barbed wire identical to that used at Guantanamo, Adel Abdessemed subverts the foundations of Christianity: Décor reflects his critical and metaphorical work, marked by the themes of violence, suffering and death.
Adel Abdessemed’s masterwork Décor belongs to the Pinault Collection. The work was first shown at the “Prima Materia” (“Raw Material”) exhibition at the Punta della Dogana.
These four natural size sculptures were created on the model of the Crucifixion of the Issenheim altarpiece, painted by Grünewald between 1512 and 1516. By creating it with barbed wire identical to that used at Guantanamo, Adel Abdessemed subverts the foundations of Christianity: Décor reflects his critical and metaphorical work, marked by the themes of violence, suffering and death.
Adel Abdessemed’s masterwork Décor belongs to the Pinault Collection. The work was first shown at the “Prima Materia” (“Raw Material”) exhibition at the Punta della Dogana.
Exhibitions
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
© Adel Abdessemed / ADAGP, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York/London
Exhibition view, Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, Adel Abdessemed, David Zwirner, New York, February 17 - March 17 2012.
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
© Adel Abdessemed / ADAGP, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York/London
Exhibition view, Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, Adel Abdessemed, David Zwirner, New York, February 17 - March 17 2012 (detail, Christ n°1).
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
© Adel Abdessemed / ADAGP, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York/London
Exhibition view, Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, Adel Abdessemed, David Zwirner, New York, February 17 - March 17 2012 (detail, Christ n°2).
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
© Adel Abdessemed / ADAGP, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York/London
Exhibition view, Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, Adel Abdessemed, David Zwirner, New York, February 17 - March 17 2012 (detail, Christ n°3).
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
© Adel Abdessemed / ADAGP, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York/London
Exhibition view, Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, Adel Abdessemed, David Zwirner, New York, February 17 - March 17 2012 (detail, Christ n°4).
