Achraf Touloub: Gare du Nord

Achraf Touloub, Gare du Nord, 2017 Ink and gouache on paper 109,5 x 169,3 cm

Achraf Touloub’s mise en abyme drawing, so aptly named, is one’s view after exiting a train at Gare du Nord. The station, a central artery that connects the outside banlieue with Paris, is represented here by sea of anonymous people, their backs turned toward us; the frame within the frame suggests that it is infinitely occurring. In a year marked by the Coronavirus and social distancing, we have been stripped of our usual ways of life and have been forced to maintain connection and intimacy with others even when humans represent a threat to our lives. In our digital on-screen-lives we are hyper-connected, yet as in this anonymous crowd, we have rarely been faced with our own solitude more. Gare du Nord presents us with the paradox of our contemporary moment and confronts us with the question: how will we connect?