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Drawing No. 3, 2014 by Nelly Agassi

Courtesy Dvir Gallery and the artist

Nelly Agassi

Drawing No. 3, 2014

Inkjet Print

5 × 120 × 90 cm | 1 15/16 × 47 1/4 × 35 7/16 in.

Dvir Gallery

Brussels

€5,675

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About this artwork

Inspired by mental institution building floor plans designed by Thomas Scott Kirkbride in the mid-19th century in the United States, Nelly Agassi reimagines the structures as conceptual structures. The typical floor plan of Kirkbride buildings, with long rambling wings arranged en echelon (staggered, so each connected wing received sunlight and fresh air), was meant to promote privacy and comfort for patients. In Agassi’s drawings and associated animated versions, the floor plans become a kind of Rorschach test that morphs into faces, masks, or reproductive organs. Mental institutions and women’s mental health have been sadly closely linked in the past, as women’s pains were not believed and extensive but unnecessary methods. Leaving the interpretation of the drawing open, Agassi provides space for connections to be made, inviting personal and intimate understandings.

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