Driss Ouadahi: Densité

New York Gallery

Before immigrating to Europe and studying at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, Algerian Driss Ouadahi studied architecture. His paintings of the ubiquitous high-rise, the legacy of Modern Architecture’s failed promise to improve the human condition, are renderings of impenetrable boundaries of steel, glass and concrete.

Ouadahi’s exploration begins with images of the enormous public housing developments in Algiers that had been modeled on France’s habitation à loyer modéré (housing at moderated rents). In North Africa, these monoliths accommodate displaced rural populations; in Europe, they house immigrants from former colonies. They are symbols of the politics of class, religion and ethnicity. Reminders of “otherness.”

Behind Ouadahi’s facades, the residents are neatly invisible. Even when the buildings are transparent, a lattice-like structure separates the viewer from the view. There are references to mashrabiya — the screened windows in traditional North African and Middle Eastern architecture — as well as to steel frame construction, scaffolding and barred windows. Boundaries abound.

In addition to the permutations of “cityscape” which Ouadahi has been exploring in the last few years, this exhibition will be comprised of two new types of paintings. The first are rigorously formal renderings of chain-link fencing that are both minimalist abstractions and a signifier of separation.

The second are depictions of tiled passageways, akin to subway systems like the Paris Métro. Fluorescent-lit and grimy, they are labyrinthian and claustrophobic. Ostensibly their purpose is movement from one place to another. But they feel more like blocked escape routes or morgues. They speak to restricted mobility in a supposedly global culture.

In spite of their beauty, all of these paintings address dehumanization. Literally, they are devoid of people. Metaphorically, they speak to separateness and the unwillingness to recognize the humanity in those who are different.