In his solo exhibition “BLISS,” Tarek Lakhrissi invites the audience on a journey: in a stage-like setting, visitors become protagonists in search of dreamy moments in the midst of chaos. Over the course of three acts, they encounter installations, film works and sculptures.
The French poet and artist has a particular interest in conversations about race, class and gender. He creates alluring poems and installations aiming to transform traditional narratives. He often uses autofiction—the interfusion of a biographical report with fictional elements—as a tool. Therefore, Lakhrissi simultaneously offers audiences opportunities for identification through subtle hints to his own experience and tells an imagined story through a myriad of layers.
Lakhrissi’s queer and BIPoC first-person perspective is transferable to the daily experience of minorities within a society dominated by a white, cisgender and heterosexual majority. “BLISS” takes the reflective state of mind of melancholy as a starting point to explore themes such as self-discovery, one’s own desire and the social exclusion of marginalized groups.
In the room pending, Act I, a large glass pendulum swings in circles in a hypnotizing way, its constant oscillation referring to circular time. Similar to the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, it symbolizes entry into a wondrous world, and the suspension of normative temporal and spatial structures, and thus social conventions like marriage and the nuclear family. The pendulum becomes the guiding force, prompting visitors to follow its rhythm and choose to move to the right or the left in the exhibition.
In Act II, dancing in a limbo, the circular arena-like space suggests the expression “running in circle».” At the centre of Act II is the film Bright Heart (2023), which follows a young man’s fairy-tale journey of self-discovery. Jahid, the protagonist, flees from a hopeless situation and finds refuge in an eerily quiet museum. There he encounters extraordinary events and fabulous creatures. They teach him about exclusion, beauty, self-confidence, everyday dangers and love. He is overcoming his internalized fears. The film’s finale shows Jahid in an intimate kiss with his lover, a former half-dinosaur half-human figure. Both are surrendering to queer desire.
In the final part, Act III, the monster’s resolution, monstrous sculptures are revealed in an immersive landscape. Merging fiction and autobiography in a journey of self-discovery, the stage is set for the climax, complete with fake nails, stars, moons, hearts and devils. In this way, the artist expresses the intricate interplay between light and darkness, bliss and melancholy.
at Migros Museum, Zurich
until May 20, 2024