Adel Abdessemed

Klan

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Adel Abdessemed, Klan, 2007, Felt, aluminium and fiberglass plane noses, 96 x 120 x 127 cm, Art Jameel Collection.

Artwork Details

Artist

Adel Abdessemed

Title

Klan

Date

2007

Medium

Felt, aluminium and fiberglass plane noses, in ten parts

Dimensions

96 x 120 x 127 cm

Credit Line

Art Jameel Collection

Work Description

Wittily subversive in its appropriation of complex historical connotations and contemporary contexts, Klan is a notable work by Adel Abdessemed, an artist who has an utterly unique artistic language. His practice represents the intensity of the present moment or recent, significant past – taking familiar or forgotten images and objects, and treating them as raw material. In the installation Klan, ten cone-shaped, mechanical, man-made objects of varying sizes and levels of wear, each adapted from the noses of aeroplanes, cluster in a group formation on the ground. Abdessemed often references planes in his work, signifying instruments of post-colonial global unity and empty vessels that can be filled with meaning. Visible markings such as dirt, scratches and dents are left on the objects, referencing their former use as working planes. 

Each piece is personified via the application of rudimentary circular black eyeholes to their centre. The subtle humanisation of these inanimate objects gives them a disturbing undertone, as their black eyes against the gleaming white backgrounds are eerily reminiscent of the masks worn by members of the Klu Klux Klan (KKK). Also referenced in the title of the work, the KKK were a white supremacist group originally founded in 1865 following the American Civil War. Members of the first KKK waged a horrific campaign of violence and terror, primarily against newly freed black slaves. Abdessemed has reduced the ‘Klan’ members to objects of disdain and mockery; placed on the floor and immobilised, looked down upon by the viewer and resigned to history.

Artist Biography

Adel Abdessemed (b. 1971, Constantine, Algeria) lives and works in Paris, France.

Adel Abdessemed is a French artist of Berber origin, who lived between Batna and Algiers until 1994 when he moved to France. His work reflects the impact of growing up in Algeria amid civil war tensions and the related global media coverage. He studied at the École nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, where he expanded his use of materials beyond traditional media, exploring the possibilities of video and of collaborating with a community of artists. Through creative interpretations of drawing, video, animation, sculpture and installation, Abdessemed explores personal histories and universal themes. Since his first solo exhibition in 2001, he has held several others, notably at MoMA PS1, New York (2007); Parasol Unit, London (2010); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2013); Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha (2014); and Rockbund Museum, Shanghai (2021). His work has been presented at major biennials such as Venice (2003, 2007, 2011, 2015); Istanbul (2007, 2017); Havana (2009), Gwangju (2008), Lyon (2007), and São Paulo (2006) and is in numerous international collections, both public and private. 

www.adelabdessemed.com

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