Yto Barrada: Faux Guide, Pace Gallery

Radical and wry Moroccan artist Yto Barrada turns up the heat in central London gallery Pace this summer with a new exhibition grounded in fossils, dusty soil and natural history. Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year back in 2011, Barrada has garnered a lot of attention recently with shows at Tate Modern, Guggenheim, Centre Pompidou and the Whitechapel Gallery.
Yto Barrada film at Pace
Faux Guide turns to the coveted region between the Atlas Mountains and Sahara Desert which has become a goldmine for fossil discoveries. In her new film, Faux départ (False Start), Barrada becomes guide to visitors on a meditative journey through this arid landscape, filled with motivated professionals thinking they've hit the jackpot. Like a hustler in a Moroccan market, Barrada exposes the industry surrounding these ancient artefacts.
Using brightly coloured Berber carpets and painted sections wall, Barrada creates the feeling that the gallery walls are rock faces with lines of geological time scale. You'll also find photographs of dinosaur footprints, children's toys, and both real and fake fossils on display.
As a fossil is a physical imprint of a previous life, Barrada considers how art is an imprint of nature in this new fascinating new contemporary art exhibition in London.