(*1947, US)
Kraeff-Aekyad, 1981
Welded steel painted black
360 × 172 × 50 cm

Born in Boston to an Italian mother and a Lebanese father, Douglas Abdell produces works marked by writing and graphic signs. His work explores the deep connection between words, images, sound and form. The artist believes that this link was particularly close and significant in the languages spoken in his home in the countries of origin of his family: Italian and Arabic and later his learning of Phoenician. These archaeological and linguistic investigations led Abdell to develop his concept of “Aekyad”: a series of combinatorial and rhizomic forms that the artist casts in bronze patinated in black and welded steel painted black. At the crossroads of minimalism and neo-expressionism, these sculptures will notably find an echo on the New York art scene in the 1970s, during the prosperous period which saw the emergence of street art, block parties and of the hip hop scene.

 In collaboration with MAMCO Genève