A tree in the centre of a fountain represents nature blooming from the heart of the eternal city, like the mangroves in the waters of Borneo close to the artist and ‘far from the threatening gaze of the faceless crowd’. Tayou’s research focuses on the urban environment. However, the use of everyday elements often returns in his poetry: the artist transforms them into iconic monuments of the contemporary era, revealing the critical aspects of our present, playing with an appealing pop aesthetic. Brainforest is a tribute to the city of Rome, where all roads begin.

From the tree branches, colourful masks, ethnic objects and travel documents based on shapes and colours and used in times past to travel around the African continent blossom like fruit. “These colourful masks are proof of the long journey travelled by man through a thousand and one roads in the earth’s savannah and, like fruit on a blue tree trunk in the centre of a golden globe, they will be testimonies to the urgencies and dramas of our present.” (P.M. Tayou)

The creation of Brainforest is supported by the Friends of MAXXI and once completed the work will become part of the Museum’s Collection. header: Pascale Marthine Tayou, La source, 2018. Courtesy the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, photo by Jan Theun van Rees, ADAGP, Paris.