Djamel Tatah Untitled, 2010 Oil and wax on canvas 190 x 250 cm 74 3/4 x 98 3/8 inches Djamel Tatah’s paintings depict life-size figures, stripped of volume and flesh, inhabiting colourful geometric spaces. Tatah combines the ancient technique of wax painting with photography and, since 1994, he has also incorporated digital technology into the process. The artist’s collection of photographs of close family and friends serves as the initial source; he selects an image to rework on the computer screen, creating a composition that is then projected onto the canvas, drawn and painted. Silent and suspended in time, Tatah’s lone wanderers, slackers and reclining figures are motifs renewed incessantly from painting to painting.
