Kader Attia

Born in Paris in 1970 into Algerian family, Attia’s work is heavily influenced by his cultural heritage. It is rooted in the complex relations between the East and West and deals with many different subjects from the place of women in religion; the taboo relations between power, religion and art; to the phobias, frustrations and fantasies of the human being. Attia is unafraid of tackling questions of globalisation and religion and his work presents a sometimes darkly humorous and even cynical view of modern life. It exists at the meeting point between Western consumerism and an uprooted North African culture and addresses issues of community, diversity, belonging and exile. Through his work Attia suggests that we are affected by both the physical and unconscious elements that surround us with which we have to live. Shape and meaning are always linked in his work, in a complex reflection that is rooted in art histories and the symbolic dimension of everyday objects. By journeying through the labyrinth of the installation we enter into a dialogue with the artist. Attia produces work that is very simple in form but leads us into a fundamental dialogue – Square Dreams literally holds up a mirror up to challenge everyone who looks.

( Baltic - The Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead)