Touhami Ennadre

"Black light" is the term used by writer François Aubral to describe the visual language of artist Touhami Ennadre. Ennadre is not interested in reproduction or the depiction of so-called reality. Devoid of secondary narrative elements, his art focuses on the essence of his subjects, which are immersed in deep black. Touhami Ennadre has returned to New York several times during the past several years, and he was there on September 11, 2001. His response to the shocking events of that day are documented in an impressive series of photographs, works that attracted considerable attention at "Documenta11." Taken in nightclubs of the still traumatized city shortly after the attack, these images are strikingly subtle and sensual. This book features the four sequences entitled New York Nightclub, New York Nine-Eleven, Under New York, and Trance. Ennadre's art has been compared in its intensity with the paintings of Van Gogh and Caravaggio and the poetry of Rimbaud. As author Tilman Spengler writes, "Ennadre presents images that appear and disappear at the same time. Often insistent to the point of obsession, these works imitate Creation in their own unique fashion, posing the question of how light and shadow become form and figure in a dialogue of equals."