Des gestes à peine déposé dans un paysage agité

Since the late 2000s, Franco-Tunisian artist Ismaïl Bahri has developed a body of work based on subtle situations and gestures, whose inexorable logic eventually produces a form of magic or grace captured at the heart of the material. 

Crumpling and uncrumpling magazine pages until the ink completely transfers from the paper to the hands, gradually erasing the printed image. Tensioning an invisible thread, manifested only by a drop of water moving along it, gradually creating a puddle in the exhibition space. Filming a transparent water droplet on a wrist in close-up, where the barely perceptible trembling reveals the pulsations of the arteries through the skin.

At the invitation of La Verrière, for his first solo exhibition in Belgium, Ismaïl Bahri created an ambitious project that transforms the architecture of the space into an optical instrument, playing with shadows and light, and the appearance and disappearance of images from both inside the building and outside. The aim is to utilize the energy of La Verrière, mainly its light, while hiding its source. This setup combines two types of projections: digital and natural. Forms, objects, and drawings, along with openings for natural light, accompany back-projected videos. This environment will feature recent works by the artist made for this occasion, inspired by observations and experiments related to storms, wind, and chaos, resulting in fleeting visions that are more or less organized.