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Fez – The productions of Driss El Oumami can generally be described as Amazigh hymns.
They reflect his Amzigh origins in particular and the Moroccan identity in general. His work radiates a strong sensitivity and projection within a Moroccan historical context. His skin art renders drawing a line between Driss El Oumami the artist and Dirss El Oumami the artisan a preposterous mission.
He, truly, immerses the artist’s sensitivity within the artisan’s skill in a deftly manner. Driss El Oumami knows how to translate the unfathomable strength weighing upon the lives of common Amazigh man. He is a researcher in a rich Amazigh heritage that constitutes a substantial sub-culture within a wider frame of a Moroccan culture.
His skin work is a cultural fantasy taking the visitor of his art galleries into the ancient roots of Moroccan history. It is genuine then when art critics testify that the essence of such artistic works have never been tarnished by modern influence. Canvas is replaced by animal skin mostly goat, sheep, cow and camel skin. When asked about the pre-artistic steps in preparing material for his work, El Oumami insisted that preparation phases of material involved in his work is highly an artistic procedure.
El Oumami is very selective to his material and guarantees a man-made product from the very first steps of work. He selects and gathers the appropriate raw skin from imperial cities like Fes, Marrakech where natural tanneries exist for over 1200 years. The skin is naturally dyed after having the skin manually trimmed, shorn, or fleeced.
Finally, he falls into the abyss of his cultural imagination to end up into a collection of mind-captivating art. Driss El Oumami is incontestably dubbed the Skin Man. Here follows a collection of his art that has been displayed at a professional art gallery in Sheraton, Casablanca.
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