One Thousand and One Nights
Mixed media on linen
286,1 × 556,9 cm
Our gaze goes lost in the monumentality of the format and textural effects of Mohammed Sami’s painting One Thousand and One Nights. At the same time, its title evokes the magic of the legends of the Golden Age of Islam. However, the unusual colour treatment evokes a different reality, which might be a representation of an anti-missile defence system seen through night goggles.
The viewer is thus compelled to search for a truth that has gone lost between the title and what he or she sees. Born in 1984 in Baghdad, Mohammed Sami emigrated to Sudan in 2007 before moving to London, where he studied fine arts. His paintings often use memories in imaginary settings as their starting point. There are no figures in his canvasses, merely traces and ghostly presences. Mohammed Sami invents new ways of envisaging what historical painting might be in the present day.
View of the exhibition “Le monde comme il va”, Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, Paris, 2024.
© Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, Niney et Marca Architectes, agence Pierre-Antoine Gatier.
Photo: Nicolas Brasseur / Pinault Collection.
