Decebal Scriba's 'The Wall' at Paris Photo 2019

At Paris Photo 2019, held at the Grand Palais from November 7-10, the gallery Anne-Sarah Bénichou presented Decebal Scriba's 1973 photographic diptych 'The Wall.' The work was fictively acquired by Annabelle Gugnon as part of a series of imaginary purchases. Created in Bucharest under Nicolae Ceaușescu's dictatorship, Scriba used chalk to number bricks on a wall—ascending from 1 to 45 on one section, descending from 41 to 1 on another—before photographing them. The gesture symbolically deconstructs the wall, challenging its perceived invincibility and the political power it represents. The black-and-white gelatin silver prints, each 30 x 45 cm, are priced at €8,000. Scriba, born in 1944 and living in France since 1990, is a key figure in the Romanian post-war avant-garde, working in performance, drawing, video, and photography. His practice engages themes of poetry, resistance, courage, and freedom.