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Lot Essay
Farid Belkahia is considered the precursor of modern and contemporary art in Morocco, and a seminal figure for Global South and trans-Mediterranean modernism. Appointed director of the Casablanca Art School at the age of 28 and remained so until 1974, Belkahia established a new pedagogy that explored the benefits of traditional arts and crafts, including carpets, pottery, jewellery, architecture for modern thinking and practice. A famous statement that he cultivated throughout his overall artistic philosophy was that
The present works marks a life long experiment with local and grassroots material and techniques; those of the craftsmen in the souks of Marrakech combining leather, metal and wool (here animal hide, pigment and bronze). It seems to underline further Belkahia’s African roots, by celebrating the multicultural ecosystem flourishing between the Jemaa el-Fna square of Marrakech and the broader desert routes of the Sahara connecting Morocco to Niger, Mauritania, countries visited by the artist and whose sculptural and textile art can often be compared to Belkahia’s works. One can also note very interesting connections between Belkahia’s aesthetics and that of the important Sudanese artist Ibrahim el-Salahi.
Belkahia's 'shaped canvases' use animal skin and henna dye instead of canvas and oil painting, a technique that the artist began in the late 1970s. One can observe the artist’s predilection for bodily and sensuous shapes, acknowledging between implicit and more explicit sensual metaphors and symbols. The reference to the concept of 'skin' and general biomorphic shapes resonate with works like that of Louise Bourgeois in a different cultural context, but with the same formal complexity and sense of irony.
Farid Belkahia has shown globally, including a recent retrospective at Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; amongst other shows at National Gallery, Morocco; Batha Museum, Fes; Darat al Funun, Amman; Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Nice; Galerie Charpentier, Paris; Paris Biennial; Panafrican Festival, Algiers; First Arab Biennial in Baghdad ; Maison de la Culture, Grenoble; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, Johannesberg; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Venice Biennial and Lyon Biennial.
Belkahia is found across collection such as The British Museum, London; Tate, London; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, MATHAF: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; and the Farid Belkahia Foundation, amongst others.
The present works marks a life long experiment with local and grassroots material and techniques; those of the craftsmen in the souks of Marrakech combining leather, metal and wool (here animal hide, pigment and bronze). It seems to underline further Belkahia’s African roots, by celebrating the multicultural ecosystem flourishing between the Jemaa el-Fna square of Marrakech and the broader desert routes of the Sahara connecting Morocco to Niger, Mauritania, countries visited by the artist and whose sculptural and textile art can often be compared to Belkahia’s works. One can also note very interesting connections between Belkahia’s aesthetics and that of the important Sudanese artist Ibrahim el-Salahi.
Belkahia's 'shaped canvases' use animal skin and henna dye instead of canvas and oil painting, a technique that the artist began in the late 1970s. One can observe the artist’s predilection for bodily and sensuous shapes, acknowledging between implicit and more explicit sensual metaphors and symbols. The reference to the concept of 'skin' and general biomorphic shapes resonate with works like that of Louise Bourgeois in a different cultural context, but with the same formal complexity and sense of irony.
Farid Belkahia has shown globally, including a recent retrospective at Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; amongst other shows at National Gallery, Morocco; Batha Museum, Fes; Darat al Funun, Amman; Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Nice; Galerie Charpentier, Paris; Paris Biennial; Panafrican Festival, Algiers; First Arab Biennial in Baghdad ; Maison de la Culture, Grenoble; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, Johannesberg; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Venice Biennial and Lyon Biennial.
Belkahia is found across collection such as The British Museum, London; Tate, London; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, MATHAF: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; and the Farid Belkahia Foundation, amongst others.