Photography (Photography)

After seeing Martha Camarillo’s photographs of horsemen in Strawberry Mansion -an impoverished Philadelphia neighbourhood- Mohamed Bourouissa travelled to see the urban stables run by African American men. For eight months, he observed, drew and photographed this community. As the community and Bourouissa became closer throughout his stay, the artist suggested that they organize a competition, called “Horse Day”, in which artists from other neighborhoods would be invited to create costumes for the horses.

Drawing & Print (Drawing & Print)

In his photographic series Périphérique (2005–2008), Mohamed Bourouissa used the composition of classical paintings to stage the portrait of friends and young people in the banlieue s (suburbs). He states “by deconstructing the clichés surrounding this subject, I deal with the problematic power struggle and its mechanics.” This series follows various themes explored throughout the work of Bourouissa. For Temps Morts, his first film, he depicted a yearlong series of mobile phone exchanges with someone in prison.

Film & Video (Film & Video)

The film called Temps Mort (Dead Time or Time Out) presents an exchange of short video footage assembled into one final edit. Remotely driven footage of daily life in prison, the banality of a sink, of a plant or a plate of pasta are offtset against scenes of life outside, in the streets of Paris, a night of love or seascapes. The dialogue between the inmate and the artist occurs by text messages and captures this exceptional situation of exchange, sharing et perhaps dependence.

Installation (Installation)

Dave is part of Mohamed Bourouissa’s project Horse Day , which stemmed from a residency the artist conducted in Philadelphia in 2014. There, he discovered the activities of the Fletcher Street Riding Club, a historical stable and training program built by and aimed at young African Americans. Weaving together two predominant symbols of American lifestyle and culture—the cowboy and the car—Bourouissa collaborated with local riders and artists to organize a contest celebrating the best adorned horse, in the manner of car tuning competitions.

Photography (Photography)

Mohamed Bourouissa’s “ Shoplifters” Series was created in 2014-2015, in a neighborhood supermarket in Lefferts Garden, Brooklyn. The store manager used to take and display Polaroids of thieves caught in the act. In the tradition of appropriation artists –from Marcel Duchamp to Richard Prince– Bourouissa simply reproduced these photographs and transposed them into the field of art to foster questioning.

Photography (Photography)

Temps Mort is the result of one year of mobile phone exchanges of still images and videos between the artist and a person incarcerated in prison. Mohamed Bourouissa directs the scenes to be reconstructed inside the prison from a distance. With sketches and instructions, he indicates in detail the sort of shots he would like to receive.

Drawing & Print (Drawing & Print)

Immolation I is taken from the four-part Immolation series which shows four Arab revolutionaries who publicly sacrificed themselves through self-immolation and in so doing heralded the beginning of the Arab Spring. The lugubrious drawings are made with cigarette burns, a direct reference to torture and burning stakes, even if what is depicted here can be considered the ultimate act of resistance in the form of self-destruction. The portraits were meticulously executed on large-scale fragile sheets of paper.

Film & Video (Film & Video)

“Untitled” was filmed in Bodh Gaya, India during a residency in 2011. There, he came across a scene that appealed to his interest in the political and social aspects of modernity. He filmed a policeman who, seemingly, is controlling traffic.