'Monoscape' marks the artist's first exhibition in Paris, at the La La Lande gallery. For his new exhibition, Saad Nazih showcases around fifteen works under the title 'Monoscape', which he describes as: "a cold, dark and monochrome space and background, where I create all the scenes and stories that I tell."
Saad Nazih, L’architecte, 2021. © Galerie La La Lande, Paris and Saad Nazih.
The central theme of this exhibition is the exploration of dreams, the imagination, and the unconscious, claimed by the artist himself. In his work, viewers discover an association of forms, objects, and ideas evoking the Surrealist approach, where drawing, painting, and writing unfold without concern for tangible reality or narrative logic.
© Galerie La La Lande, Paris and Saad Nazih.
However, recurrences appear in his paintings: the silhouetted but always recognisable figure of the artist's uncle, as well as symbols of power of all kinds—financial, political, and religious. The concept of the unconscious, established by Freud in the early 20th century, marks the beginning of a new era, one characterised by destruction (with nuclear weapons, symbolising humanity's capacity for self-annihilation), but also by attempts to control human consciousness and regulate desires through the introduction of meaningless objects replacing genuine needs. These symbolic objects are found throughout Nazih's work: coins (euros, dirhams), books, gold medals (diverted from their symbolism of success to denounce fierce competition), medicine boxes, cutlery, cans, etc. They symbolise a chaotic projection of humanity caught in the grip of capitalism, striving for professional and financial success, only to realise they are ultimately alone. By forgetting their true desires, they are left to face isolation and suffering.
Saad Nazih, Money, 2021. © Galerie La La Lande, Paris and Saad Nazih.
Nazih engages directly with today's world and society, intentionally varying the themes of his compositions, seeking to confuse their symbolism. He portrays a man and a woman being chased out from a reproductive paradise, not for the sin of knowledge, but for the sin of money. Money is a recurring theme in his works, representing the disruption of harmony between humanity and the world. It corrupts both the soul and nature, and in his large canvases, individuals always appear naked, as if stripped, isolated, and torn between toxic substances—psychotropic drugs, alcohol—and their own destructive impulses. Fire and war are always suggested in the compositions.
Saad Nazih, Fragile, 2024. © Galerie La La Lande, Paris and Saad Nazih.
His work invites viewers to reflect on their place in the world, drawing them into their own unconscious. The symbols Nazih employs are universal, allowing each individual to interpret them through their own knowledge and personal experience. He challenges us to confront what we often overlook—whether out of negligence or deliberate ignorance—our reckless pursuit of a world driven by impulse. In his paintings, his human figures act as mirrors. Like dreams, his paintings need to be deciphered and analysed to teach us about truths we may not wish to acknowledge.
This is a must-see exhibition, that echoes the nearby Centre Pompidou’s surrealism exhibition.
Saad Nazih, Monoscape
Until the 9th of November 2024
Image de couverture: Et Dieu créa l’homme, la femme et l’argent 2, 2022. © Galerie La La Lande, Paris et Saad Nazih.
