Steel, expended foam, resin, and pigments
429.3 × 729 × 83.8 cm


Central to French-Algerian artist Neïl Beloufa’s approach is his use of inexpensive construction materials and techniques, collaboration with friends, and the creation of irregular environments to influence the tone of the space in which his works are arranged. Through these methods, he seeks to reject the modern-day hierarchy of content, images, and source material while addressing “authority and human relations.” In this sense, Beloufa deconstructions the division between fiction and reality while building on a foundation related to the new technologies and media of a post-internet age – his work is less about the object and more about the relationship it evokes.

Paravant view: nice and clean uses the aforementioned methods to achieve a screen (or paravant in French) that uncomfortably dissects a portion of the room. Drawing on the artist’s recent examinations of surveillance of society, the lightweight polyurethane panels have been shaped with a pattern of brickwork that calls to mind the impenetrable appearance governmental and administrative structures. Yet, imbuing the work with his nimble sense of humor and criticism, these lightweight panels have also been patterned with a pastel camouflage and, on one side, a single plastic palm frond flaccidly emerges. – Alicia Reuter


*1985 in Paris, France | Living and working in Paris, France, New York and Los Angeles, USA