Alex Becerra & Mohamed Namou at Levy Delval

On the occasion of Brussels Art Days – 11 to 13 September – Levy Delval will host two artists: “Dollar Store Colors & Bad Taste” show by Los Angeles-based artist Alex Becerra for his first exhibition with the gallery and “Extended Play” by Mohamed Namou.

Becerra will present a suite of new paintings, drawings and sculptures that revolve around 99 Cent store colors and taste. The central motif of his paintings is the interest in the human figure and his everyday surroundings. Grotesque, comic-like characters are part of his understanding of the human being and how they function within the discourse of painting. The over saturated pastel shades and the just slightly unexpected color choices of his palette undercut perfunctory and direct drawing. His works take on a surrealist quality as they often appear as the products an undefinable consciousness, rife with interruptions of sex, violence and sheer arbitrariness.

Namou’s interest in the iconography that surrounds A.I is coupled with a more abstract series of work that deals with data visualization. The series of sculptures Sam and Al reproduce the anatomy of a printing machine via the use of granite and stereogram. The material ecology that explores Mohamed Namou has been steadily concerned with the visual culture of minerals from Ron Arad curved design chairs to Bang & Olufsen’s promise of an ultimate technological experience. Thus, they emphasize all the spiritual qualities that are marketed by such products: simplicity, purity, immateriality, perfection and cultural neutrality. Ultimately, his work is investigating the history of digital materiality and the business of transforming aluminium device into tactile enlightenment.

Save the date: the two exhibitions will run during Brussels Art Days – 11 to 13 September.