Omar Mahfoudi's project Dans la maison, borrows its title from a film of François Ozon. Mirroring the story, which questions the boundary between fiction and reality, Omar Mahfoudi plunges the spectator into a domestic setting, interweaving memories and fantasies. Is the visitor entering a replica of the artist's lair or a romanticised version of his 'home'? The same ambiguity - between reality and fantasy - emerges from the faces that inhabit his works: anonymous figures, they exude a strange familiarity. The presentation plays with this feeling of déjà vu, challenging our landmarks by questioning the notions of what is real and what is fake.
Analogous to a cinema set, Dans la maison embodies the primordial place occupied by the 7th art in Omar Mahfoudi's practice. It invites the viewers to wander between the artist's ephemeral living room and studio.
The television in the living room screens a loop of videos made by Omar Mahfoudi in 2018. Embodying the diversity of his aspirations and techniques, they are a glimpse into his memories from the roads of Tangier to its beaches. In the background, some catchy music escapes from a record player. Alluding to the artist's passion for music - he opened a vinyl shop in Tangier in 2023 - and his eclecticism, the songs, playing endlessly, reflect his inspirations that can even appear in the titles of his works.
On the walls, inks on paper and acrylics on canvas unfold in a mosaic display. A gathering of past moments, romanticised scenes and obsessive figures that come and go, they sometimes refer to the very elements of the setting. This mise en abîme contributes to the strange, even supernatural atmosphere that imbues Omar Mahfoudi's art.
Unfinished canvases laying on the floor bring this wander through Omar Mahfoudi's imagination to an end. The ink flows and mingles with the water in a creative dance until deciding on the final drawing.
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