Informed by the issues surrounding Western Art, drawing from a literary and poetic tradition, the work of Yazid Oulab is a quest for meaning. In his sculptures, videos, installations and also his drawings, the artist declines an iconography linked to his own experience: everyday objects (jars, scales, crates, carpets) , sometimes with a sacred association (incense sticks, sacrificial knives), or to the building trade which he practises in order to finance his studies (trowel, carpenter’s pencil, scaffolding).
The artist is particularly interested in basic or raw materials and the transformation of them by all possible movements, as what does a craftsman. These materials themselves are important to me because they are artistic work with their own spirits.
The abundant use of nails in Oulab’s works often catches people’s eyes. A nail is a fundamental element for architecture, a perfect symbol of alliance. Oulab has formed it by different mediums such as clay, chalk, crystal, charcoal, precious metal – gold for example - and wood. The inspiration comes also from the cuneiform writing. In the Arabian culture, the first letter “Âlif” have a very similar shape of a nail, thus for Oulab, all modern art seems to be hung on a nail.
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