Neïl Beloufa, Bottles and Cans on Red, 2019

2019

Medium

MDF, synthetic leather, COR-TEN steel, electric outlet, plug and switch

Dimensions

160 × 130 cm

Status

In Gallery Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-156241

Neïl Beloufa's relief-like wall piece Bottles and Cans on Red (2019) from his Vintage series is a complex interplay of diverse forms and materials. At first glance, the large-scale work looks like an industrial relic including a cable, several sockets and two different-sized grid structures reminiscent of ventilation shafts. Upon second glance and as the title suggests, the outlines of bottles and cans become visible under the organic-looking leather as well as on the predominantly red-colored MDF. The bottles and cans are testimonies to the presence of people and our consumer behavior in a globalized world. Not only the consumption of goods, but also media consumption becomes visible here. Characteristic features of the Vintage series are several technical components. A total of three sockets, which were embedded in steel and MDF, give the viewer access to electricity and thus ensure the connection to media and permanent availability in the digital age. As multi-layered and paradoxical as this may seem, Beloufa's art serves not only in the figurative sense of networking, but concretely as an invitation to actively connect mobile devices to the electric circuit. Beloufa, who often uses materials and techniques in his works that contain visible technological components, he juxtaposes the technical aspects with the conspicuous material mix of wood, leather and metal. The combination of electricity, paired with the roughly worked wooden surface and the soft, curved leather, creates a dramatic composition that culminates in the clash of these contrasting materials and, together with the relief-like structure of the boxes, creates a relief that is literally full of tension.