Mohamed Bourouissa: Urban Riders

The artist’s first solo exhibition at a U.S. arts institution, Mohamed Bourouissa: Urban Riders features approximately 60 works, including drawings, photos, videos, costumes, and sculptures. Since 2002, Bourouissa (b. 1978, Algeria; lives and works in Paris) has been developing a photography practice, drawing, and creating video rooted in social reality. Primarily working with representations of a contemporary urban environment, he is interested in the stereotypes associated with geographic and social spaces. Inspired by painting and contemporary photography, his works interweave fictional and documentary threads.

In 2014, for his first project in the U.S., Bourouissa focused his attention on a North Philadelphia community’s efforts at neighborhood revitalization. His response included designing, staging, filming, and photographing an equestrian event he called “horse tuning,” at a local stable: his photographs and films show extravagantly costumed young riders and their decorated mounts as fantastic figures, transcending their economic circumstances. Today, Bourouissa continues to make work related to this project.This exhibition includes the videos, photos, drawings, sculptures, costumes, and performances that Bourouissa inspired and created during his stay in Philadelphia. This exhibition also represents the first time this body of work—already acclaimed in Paris, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam—is being shown in the U.S.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website