Fossils, dinosaurs and museum artefacts inform the work of offbeat artist Yto Barrada. After winning the 2015 Abraaj Group Art Prize she has come to London for a solo show at Pace Gallery that explores the ideas of imprints and archives.
Barrada was born in Paris to Moroccan parents, studying history and political science at university before going on to work as an artist. She currently lives between Tangier, Morocco and New York — a choice that is reflected in her working style, that combines North African imagery and warmth of colour with a Western contemporary aesthetic.
Her past study of history threads through her work, with her recently published book A Guide to Fossils for Forgers and Foreigners (Mack Books) combining her intrigue about museums and the historical world with her signature wit. Her film Faux Start focuses on preparators who create fake fossils, and also looks into geological time and the history of planet Earth.
The work in this exhibition is varied, contrasting ideas of collectibles and antiques with a tropical colour palette that feels fresh and current. The artist’s role in this exhibition is as a kind of guide that brings the viewer around some questionable artefacts – a mix of photographs of dinosaur footprints, 1930s children’s wooden toys, fossils (both real and fake) and a model of a dinosaur. This is an interesting take on the ideas of museums and artefacts (when artists take this on it often tends to be displayed in quite a stiff, regimented manner) that feels original and lighthearted.
Faux Guide is showing at Pace Gallery, London until August 8.
