mounir fatmi: If you don’t know me by now

Ceysson & Bénétière Gallery is pleased to present an exclusive retrospective dedicated to the artist mounir fatmi, showcasing for the first time the entirety of his works in white coaxial cables, created over the past 25 years. Entitled If You Don’t Know Me by Now, this solo exhibition brings together iconic sculptures that echo a career defined by the exploration of the circulation of images and information, and their implications in contemporary society.

Since 1998, the coaxial cable has played a central role in mounir fatmi’s sculptural work. As a recurring symbol, it represents the flow of information that permeates our era, while questioning the relationships between the individual, the image, and a declining technology. The artist examines memory, communication, and how these obsolete technologies transform into relics of the past. These creations, perceived as future archives, challenge the transmission of knowledge, the survival of languages, and the durability of cultural objects in an ever-evolving world. The geometric and calligraphic forms that these cables take sometimes immerse the viewer in a visual universe where reference points blur, leading to multiple interpretations. At other times, the concentric circles offer visual clarity, providing a breath within this complexity.

Visitors will discover major works such as La Pieta, Roots, Kissing Circles, The Theorist, as well as the most recent series The Limits to Growth, a reflection on the physical and symbolic limits of growth, where the cables twist and intertwine in a visual representation of the tensions between infinite expansion and material constraints.

Through their meticulous entanglement of white antenna cables, these works engage not only with each other but also with the gallery’s pristine space, creating a subtle interaction between the art and the surrounding architecture. The walls become an open book, where each sculpture turns into a chapter of a deep exploration of the human condition through technologies and social structures. The viewer is invited to immerse themselves in a unique visual and intellectual journey, where the geometric, calligraphic, and abstract forms of the cables reflect the complexities of the contemporary world, while leaving room for poetic and sensory contemplation. This staging offers a new dimension to mounir fatmi’s work, transforming each gallery space into a singular experience, where the tension between chaos and order mirrors a broader reflection on the obsolescence of materials and the fragility of our contemporary society. Through his sculptures, the artist examines the limits of technology and how it shapes our ideologies, while highlighting the illusions and power mechanisms that bind us to an uncertain present and an undefined future.

The If You Don’t Know Me by Now exhibition is a rare opportunity to delve into mounir fatmi’s unique universe, where industrial material becomes a powerful metaphor for the exchanges and tensions of our time. Through 25 years of creation, the artist offers us a profound reflection on communication dynamics, visual saturation, and the growth of cultural productions in an ever-changing world.

Since 2000, mounir fatmi’s installations were selected in several biennials, the 52nd and 57th Venice Biennales, the 8th Sharjah Biennale, the 5th and 7th Dakar Biennales, the 2nd Seville Biennale, the 5th Gwangju Biennale, the 10th Lyon Biennale, the 5th Auckland Triennial, the 10th and 11th Bamako Biennales, the 7th Shenzhen Architecture Biennale, the Setouchi Triennial and the Echigo-Tsumari Triennial in Japan. 

His work has been presented in numerous personal exhibits, at the Migros Museum, Zurich. MAMCO, Geneva. Picasso Museum La Guerre et la Paix, Vallauris. AK Bank Foundation, Istanbul. Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf. Gothenburg Konsthall, Göteborg and at the Es Baluard Museu, Palma de Mallorca.

He also participated in several collective exhibits at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Brooklyn Museum, New York. Palais de Tokyo, Paris. MAXXI, Rome. Mori Art Museum, Tokyo. MMOMA, Moscow. Mathaf, Doha, Hayward Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, at Nasher Museum of Art, Durham and Louvre Abu Dhabi.He has received several prizes, including the Uriöt prize, Amsterdam, the Grand Prix Léopold Sédar Senghor at the 7th Dakar Biennale in 2006, the Cairo Biennale Prize in 2010, as well as the Silver Plane Prize, Altai Biennale, Moscow in 2020.