Rabat – An upcoming art exhibition featuring 6 artists, including 5 Moroccans and 1 French artist, will open to the public from August 1 to August 15 in Marrakesh.
The exhibition, titled “Thwarted Hopes,” will be open to visitors in Dar Zagora, a gallery and artists’ residency.
Bringing together artists from different backgrounds under one theme, the exhibition will feature the works of Ahmed Haizoune, Ahmed Ben Ismael, Abdelghani Chalal, and Houcine Ilan, Jean-Michel Bouqueton, and Othmane Benchaalal.
This cultural event, scheduled several months ago, has been postponed several times due to the exceptional circumstances related to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ahmed Ben Ismael is a painter and photographer. A part of his work involves creating several covers for literary and artistic books, and posters for cultural and artistic events.
His paintings feature a side of Moroccan folklore often marginalized in the art world: the world of magic and talismanic writing. He is also known for using vegetable dyes, the same used by traditional moroccan weavers.
Ahmed Haizoune, born in 1968 in Marrakech, graduated from the School of Fine Arts in Tetouan before leaving for Italy to perfect his craft.
Originally from Oulmes in the Middle Atlas from a horse breeding family, the artist began drawing the animal early on. He works mainly between Morocco and Italy, having exhibited his work in several of Italy’s most prestigious galleries
Travelling from the Todra Gorges to Taroudant in the South of Morocco, he was particularly inspired by the Kasbahs of the South, a prominent element of his paintings.
The third Moroccan artist featured in the upcoming exhibition is Abdelghani Chalal. Influenced by his father’s passion for painting, the artist started his artistic journey early and has been dedicated to the artistic pursuit since the 90s.
His latest creations have been characterized by the “masterful” combination of tradition and modernity.
Artist Houcine Ilan’s work is highly socio-cultural, resulting in a very personal and specific pictorial approach.
Esoteric signs, survivors of ancestral superstitions, and dark mental health themes are all central components of Houcine Ilan’s work.
His intellectual approach emphasizes the duality between the psychologically “hindered” body and its quest for deliverance from social marginalization and stigmas.
Houcine Ilan disregards all taboos and evokes the eternal pull of invisible forces on the rational and reason of human beings, with great commitment.
Born in 1985 in Casablanca, Othman Benchaalal attended the University of Toulouse, and the University of Limoges, where he obtained a Master’s degree in mathematics, cryptology and information security.
The artist is a self-taught photographer, with a passion for street and portrait photography.
After a detour from literature and cinema, Jean-Michel Bouqueton began to paint in 1993, at the age of 45.
The French artist progressively felt the need to get closer to figuration through landscapes, steering away from his abstract beginnings.
Two years ago, he undertook the systematic representation of bodies. The composition of his paintings, however, remains faithful to his abstract roots and abides by non-figurative imperatives.
