Périphérique

‘What I am after is that very fleeting tenth of a second when the tension is at its most extreme. We have all known those imperceptible moments when the tension seems more violent than the confrontation with the other . At that extreme point where anything could happen, or nothing.’ Mohamed Bourouissa has produced a number of works exploring social reality, working within contemporary urban environments to explore the stereotypes surrounding geographical and social spaces. Périphérique is a series interested in the territories and issues of the suburbs in France where he grew up. A burnt out car, a playing field, a cafeteria, a housing project, a concrete slab – all become a theatre in which groups where meetings bring forth ambiguity, disquiet, a latent dormant violence which comes with no actual sign of violence . Often considered to be the violent border of progressive society, Bourouissa places these suburbs in the field of art, treating them as a visual, conceptual object. His photographs reference historical paintings thus rendering them deeply connected to art history, and places the subjects in the vernacular of the French Revolution, each scene working to address the reality of the prejudices within society. His pictures are staged like cinema shots and are rich with references to painters such as Caravaggio, Delacriox, Gericualt and photographers such as Jeff Wall and Garcia di Lorca.