Through this dialogue between two major figures of the contemporary art scene, L’Atelier 21 highlights the affinities between the artistic practices of Najia Mehadji and Yamou, united by a shared attention to the vital forces that animate nature and to the intimate connection between organic forms and the cosmos. Together, their works invite viewers to explore the dynamics of life, where the infinitely small enters into dialogue with the infinitely vast.
In the exhibition catalogue, curator Olivier Rachet describes this convergence in the following terms:“Art does not reproduce the visible in a literal way; rather, it makes visible the cosmic breath of the universe, the intangible presence of the infinite within every fragment of reality we are able to observe. Every calligrapher, sculptor, architect, or weaver has always known this intuitively, just as much as any avant-garde artist. It is within this lineage of modernist abstraction that the work of Najia Mehadji and Yamou should be situated, both having encountered, in their respective journeys, the motif of the arabesque […]. This ornamental tradition is appropriated by the two artists and transformed from a mere decorative motif into a living element.”
