Mountain and Desert is nearly four metres wide, made from Corten steel and wool. Amine El Gotaibi gathers the fibres against a weathered metal panel. Wool usually reaches an exhibition through a textile or garment; here it occupies the surface of a sculpture on the scale of a large landscape painting.
The work belongs to Wind from the North, the Moroccan artist’s first solo exhibition with Southern Guild, which opened in New York on November 6. Colossal’s Grace Ebert drew attention to the new sculptures that day. The catalogue extends the combination into copper: Reflect and the two Kinetic works also bring wool into contact with metal. Mountain Lines returns to Corten steel and wool.
Southern Guild connects the wool to communities in Morocco’s mountains and deserts, including their survival under colonial rule. That history gives the choice of fibre a particular significance. Using it beside industrial metal puts craft and large-scale sculpture in direct contact, with neither material concealed by the other.
The series also includes polished surfaces, ink impressions made with wool and an earth sculpture. In Land Game, the soil comes from New York. An exhibition rooted in North African landscapes has brought a piece of its temporary location indoors too.
The exhibition runs at Southern Guild’s Tribeca gallery through January 9, 2027. Mountain and Desert is a useful starting point for the larger series: the wool remains visibly fibrous beside the weathered steel, even at that enormous scale. El Gotaibi has brought the materials together without making them look interchangeable. The difference between them is what holds the work’s interest.