Shown in Clandestine, The Venice Biennale
Venice, Italy. 2003
Etty Abergel’s hallucinatory, evocative interiors are composed almost entirely of what appear to be the residues of everyday living. Using fabric, string, masking tape, cardboard, cement and plaster to wrap simple furniture-like structures and a few chosen objects, she creates almost monochrome, complex and multi-layered environments that hide no less than reveal the deeply personal associations they trace. The wrapped objects hint at elements of the artist’s childhood and her Moroccan immigrant family life. The viewer is invited to decode the concretized and painted-over associations, which may look arbitrary and irrational, but speak of a strong and purposeful inner logic nonetheless.