MONIRA AL QADIRI
BENZENE FLOAT
7 JULY – 1 SEPTEMBER 2024
Monira Al Qadiri’s exhibition BENZENE FLOAT at the Halle Verrière explores the influence that the petrochemical industry has on our modern lives.
Giving rise to a myriad of substances (gasoline, benzene, naphthalene, propane, asphalt, tar, and countless other mutations), petrochemicals are so integrated into our everyday lives that they become invisible, hovering in the background of our immediate field of vision, secretly fueling our activities like magical spirits or ghosts.
With BENZENE FLOAT, such an equation of deception and mystery is turned on its head by an exaggeration of the power of air: five larger-than-life sculptures representing chemical compounds are inflated into absurd shapes and sizes, creating a visual spectacle of shimmering, reflective surfaces suspended in space. Reminiscent of large decorative parade floats, they embody scientific drawings of the molecular structure of these chemical substances. Often based on microscopic samples, these models have been enlarged to a gigantic scale, some measuring over ten meters in length.
Their disproportionate size, combined with their colorful fabric, underline the immense influence of these chemicals on our contemporary lives, which are both a vector of convenience and destruction. By forcefully capturing the viewer's attention, they dominate the space in an absurd, playful, and dramatic way, betraying any logic or decency.
© Image by Julien Bernardi
Monira Al Qadiri’s work explores, through multiple media, little-known aspects of colonial history, oil cultures, and the formation of identities in the context of the Middle East. In a region whose geostrategic interest is intimately linked to energy resources, the radical transformation of local lifestyles is keeping pace with the accelerating industrial impact on global ecosystems. In the sandy landscapes, which reach the highest temperatures on the planet, the artist discovers narrative potentials that project us both into the prehistoric past and into an increasingly less hypothetical future of global overheating and desertification.