
Control panel 1 (yolk)
2017
In "Control panel 1 (yolk)," Nevine Mahmoud suspends a bright orange, nipple-shaped piece of calcite above a cylindrical block of onyx, binding the two forms together with stainless-steel wire and aluminum hardware. The composition is at once mechanical and visceral, staging a confrontation between the cool authority of industrial materials and the warm, yielding suggestion of flesh. Mahmoud's characteristic polish is everywhere evident: surfaces invite touch while simultaneously withholding it, and the object's compactness belies the conceptual weight it carries. The yolk-colored calcite reads as something extracted from the body, catalogued, and fastened in place, as though the organic could be made subject to the logic of a control panel. This tension between the bodily and the systematic runs throughout Mahmoud's practice, which interrogates how female anatomy is looked at, named, and handled. The "Control panel" series, made in 2017, gave Mahmoud a framework for exploring the mechanics of objectification with wit and precision. Rather than making the critique didactic, she allows the materials to speak through their contrasts: the deep, translucent green-gray of the onyx set against the vivid warmth of the calcite creates a chromatic and textural opposition that keeps the eye moving and the mind unsettled. The sculpture is signed by the artist and measures a compact 33 by 12.7 by 15.2 centimeters, making it a quietly commanding presence at an intimate scale. Offered through the Walker Art Center Benefit Auction, a museum that holds the distinction of being the first institution to acquire Mahmoud's work, this piece enters the market with a meaningful institutional provenance.
- Medium
- Onyx, stainless-steel wire, aluminum, calcite
- Overall
- Signed
- Yes
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