Open Your Eyes

To “repair” as a universal act is a key element of Kader Attias’ artistic production. He grew up in the suburbs of France and in Algeria and inhabits a space between Western European Christian traditions and a North African Muslim setting, a complex set of circumstances that is manifest in his work. The portraits in Open Your Eyes have been collected from various army museums and represent soldiers whose faces and bodies were badly damaged during the First World War before being stitched up. The photographs are displayed in the form of a slide show together with images of objects such as vessels that have been restored or face masks made of wood.