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Details

Classification:

Drawing and Watercolour

Materials:

Ink, Paper

Dimensions:

37 x 46.5 cm

Credit:

Presented by the Contemporary Art Society through its Special Partnership with the Henry Moore Foundation, supported by Cathy Wills, 2022/23

Ownership history:

Purchased from Workplace Foundation, Newcastle by the Contemporary Art Society through its Special Partnership with the Henry Moore Foundation, supported by Cathy Wills, 20 January 2023; presented to Leeds Art Gallery, 2022/23

Emii Alrai is an artist whose practice is informed by history, geography, mythologies and inherited nostalgia. Her work criticises Western museological structure and the complexity of ruins, rooted in her own identity growing up in an Iraqi family in Britain. Her installations often mimic museum displays. Alrai explores how the body is situated against the rigidity of history to interrogate how collections and dioramas reinforce systems of empire. Alrai’s work posits the viewer as an intruder, hunter or voyeur. The form of Coude (2022) is punctured by arrows and is on a platform that appears to be crumbling. The theatrical nature of this presentation gives the sculpture an energy of performance. Each time Coude is displayed, it will be slightly different, due to its ephemeral material quality. This is a rebellion against the impossible conservator’s dream of perfect preservation. Three accompanying drawings – Flail, Croucher and Tempest Walker – show Alrai’s exploration of forms, blurring the space between human, animal and landscape.

All rights reserved. Any further use will need to be cleared with the rights holder. Permission granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only. Commercial copying, hiring, lending is prohibited. The collection that owns this artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

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