Modou Dieng Yacine & Zoila Andrea Coc-Chang: Bricks and Grids, curated by Miriam Bettin

In the framework of the Venice Architecture Biennale, 193 Gallery is pleased to present Bricks andGrids, a duo exhibition showcasing new works by Zoila Andrea Coc-Chang and Modou DiengYacine, curated by Miriam Bettin.

The architectural elements of bricks and grids can be interpreted both stylistically and metaphoricallyas structures or patterns. Bricks can evoke playfulness, as seen in popular children’s toys, and theyappear in various arrangements within walls “in which they overlap so as to provide strength”[1]. Laidin rows and stacked atop one another, bricks embody the grid through their modular, repetitivepatterns. Brick walls have “two essential functions: providing structures and dividing space”[2]. Asvertical surfaces, they build shelter, offer protection, organize (societal) movement, and create asense of home, while simultaneously manifesting structures of control, institutional authority, andterritorial boundaries.

While Modou Dieng Yacine examines traces of Black history in Venice through his photographic-basedpaintings of social and architectural environments, Zoila Andrea Coc-Chang deconstructs economicsystems of power through her sculptural weavings made from dried fruits, food waste, and syntheticmaterials. Despite the distinct medial approaches of the two artistic works, both reveal underlyingstructural and repetitive elements: the checkered floor tiles from Modou’s studio in Chicago and thegallery space in Venice, Zoila’s interwoven patterns of dried chili peppers, fruit peels, and organzathreads, and food wrappers tracing the interconnections of Asia and the Americas through migrationand transpacific food trade. 

[1] Rem Kolhaas/AMO, “Wall”, in: Elements of Architecture, Venice (Marsilio) 2014, p. 230.

[2] Ibid., p. 203.

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Miriam Bettin, exhibition curator

Read the Full Curator’s Statement