By Joseph Varghese/Staff Reporter

Mathaf : Arab Museum of Modern Art will present an exhibition by  Adel Abdus-Samad entitled ‘L’age d’or’  from today. It  will last until  January 5. Abdus-Samad is an Algerian artist based in France.
The exhibition showcases Abdus-Samad’s recent works that include drawings, paintings, sculptures and videos. Some of them are specially created for this show. The exhibition is curated by Pier Luigi Tazzi, an independent art critic and curator.
Speaking to the media yesterday at Mathaf, Tazzi said: “This show is specially made for this museum and for this building. The work of art is for the object itself. The art represented is overwhelming and big in size. It is not art for art’s sake.”
Mathaf’s Director Abdellah Karroum said: “L’age d’or is a very challenging show in many ways. I hope it will resonate with visitors from Qatar and around the world. Adel’s work contributes substantially to the debate of ideas and leads the way in the movement towards new concepts in the art scene and the world at large.”
Working across a wide range of media, Abdus-Samad transforms well- known materials and imagery into charged artistic declarations. He has declared himself as “an artist of acts” and his works are known for their forceful impact and symbolic resonance.
New works presented in Mathaf include the eponymous  L’age d’or, a bas-relief  work of gold-plated brass depicting the artist’s four young daughters and Julie a life size sculpture of the artist’s wife, made from both salt stone from Siwa and a rock local to the region of Qatar. Other works include ‘La Chine est proche’, a bicycle fashioned  from camel bone and ‘East of Ede’, groupings of knives thrust  into the ground.
In two new and separate video works,the artist employs percussive and rhythmic device of a bare human foot repeatedly crushing a white rose and a skull. In another video ‘printemps’, violence is explored as a line of chickens against a wall of fire.
The main atrium of the exhibition space will house Le Vase abominable (2013), a 5½-m sculpture, which consists of a tall brass pot positioned on top of an explosive device, a carefully crafted replica bomb. Little pot (2013) consists of eleven vessels each made from a different material, including gold, gum, and salt.