THAMEUR MEJRI
WORKS 2023-2024
MAD ART GALLERY
Jun 28 - Sep 07, 2024, Poznan (PL)
In the series of paintings created by Thameur Mejri in 2023 and early 2024, the logic of his work is completely different than before. The artist draws from the depths of repressed consciousness, trying to reach the invisible link connecting an object with an experience, a movement (of line or color) with an emotion. It is in this other reality - the creator's reality - that objects, concepts, attitudes and emotions are combined through the dynamics of composition to embody the represented discourse. The observer, standing in front of the canvas, may surprise himself by noticing this other reality requiring an attitude towards it. It doesn't matter whether you deny it, agree with it, or doubt it. The artist's work lives thanks to its presence in us. A raven or a fly stands on a body that appears to be absorbed in a chaos of objects and lines. There is torment, there is the threat and violence of a knife that also plunges into the hell of fibers... Everyone will see their own truth in it. Of course, some of the presented objects have a clear symbolic meaning, such as "Converse sneakers", symbolizing a subculture, lifestyle, life attitude... At the same time, these are valuable objects that acquire their full meaning and function only when they are "penetrated" by the foot their owner. Another recurring symbol in this series of works is the light bulb, reminding us of Heidegger's 1953 lecture reflecting on the development of technology: "No one can deny that in a relatively short period of time (in the context of history, and especially the prehistory of humanity), science and technology have transformed our planet to such an extent that they disturbed the eternal ecological and ethnological balance, and above all, they made man doubt the meaning of his existence and his work, to such an extent that his own identity fell apart. The location of this object on the canvas is always outside the main drawing in order to dominate the action taking place there. Hegemonic and perfidious. This is Heidegger's position on technology as a source of domination, alienation and violence. However, all this torment, expressed and directed in the form of a collective tragedy, does not take away from the painter's true calling at the moment of creating the work. His most unbearable suffering is the anxiety that haunts him in his everyday life and in his immediate surroundings. The artist is torn between his art, which consumes him from the inside, and the limitations from which he cannot escape without burning his surroundings. The artist's vocation expressed in the works of Thameur Mejri is clear and identical to all who pursue it: to devote one's life to fulfilling one's creative potential; sacrifice everything to satisfy your vanity, with no guarantee of success.