YMA (Young Moroccan Artists): Group Exhibition
YMA (Young Moroccan Artists)
The YMA is a travelling group exhibition that represents young Moroccan artists working in different media and concepts that are inspired by their own unique environments. The exhibition commences at the Sulger-Buel Gallery in London in May 2019 with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in the United Kingdom and will then be transported to the KFW-DEG Bank in Cologne in June 2019 as part of their cultural program which had invited Morocco as the feature country this year.
The exhibition aims at fostering a young Moroccan contemporary art scene through a multidisciplinary exhibition of artists from the same generation. The goal of the exhibition is to showcase young creative talent and the artist's sensibilities as both African and global citizens.
About the Artists:
Eliassaa
Born 1990 in El Jadida, Morocco
Graduated from the National Institute of Fine Arts of Tetouan, Morocco.
Eliassa presents a body of work titled Sacred Memories, as an open window to his memories of a nostalgic period of his life during which he lived with his grandmother. The superposition of transparency between the showcase and the objects is a pictorial way of representing icons that awaken our memory and our senses. This cabinet (often locked) is like a book, a collection of sacred vessels which carry memory. These 'collections' are present in all cultures, only the contents could differ.
Nafie Ben Krich
Born 1988 in Tetouan, Morocco
Graduated from the National Institute of Fine Arts of Tetouan, Morocco.
Ben Krich's describes his work as a symbolic dialogue between his lived experience and his creative practice. His creative sensibility is deeply influenced by his rural youth, observing the chickens that his family raises and sells for income. Ben Krich questions the human condition by comparing our environment to that of breeding hens.
The universe of Ben Krich is absurd, tragic and comical; populated with wingless and/or headless hens. His drawings and sculptures become a satire to a society which 'advances' through brute consumerism.
https://nafiebenkrich.wordpress.com/
Nasrine Kheltent
Born in 1991 in Huy, Belgium
Graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Brussels, Belgium.
Kheltent is interested in the ulmic medium as a vector of images, movements and vibrations and explores this with video and performance work that stages a dramaturgy of reality. Kheltent seeks through her practice to engage with the design and architecture of the public space and with spaces that resist her movement.
Mohamed Saïd Chair
Born 1989 in Tanger, Morocco
Mohamed Saïd Chair was raised in an art-loving family. At an early age he was taught basic graphic and painting techniques by his architect mother. As a self-taught artist, nothing hindered him from pursuing a professional art career. After his academic studies, he worked at a bank as a financial adviser for three years but in the evenings he would dedicate most of his free time to developing new techniques at the studio. He later became a successful entrepreneur but could not resist the call to make art full-time. After taking this leap of faith, he's been working on developing a consistent art portfolio that is undeniably influenced by his banking & entrepreneurial journey. His artworks reflect, through a contemporary expression and style, a thorough breakdown of the entrepreneurial and consumption-obsessed world.
Chair is concerned by our consumerist society and the implications thereof on individual identity. In his paintings, he uses boxes covering individuals' heads as a metaphor to describe a vicious social order that produces similarly standard individuals, rather than real people with disparate characters.
Rachid Ouhnni
Born 1983 in Marrakech, Morocco
Geography graduate from the National Institute of Fine Arts of Tetouan, Morocco.
Raised in the medina of Marrakech, Ouhnni's works are inspired by the opulent materials and linguistic culture of his immediate surroundings in the context of a broader social cultural community.
7 is an art installation composed of 49 copper plates of similar size. There are 7 plateshorizontally, vertically, and diagonally. Each line contains six pictures of faces and one QR code. The faces symbolize members of society, and they belong to different family members from various genders, ages, and races. The QR code alludes to the interference between materialism and consumerism within our communications with one another.
"Despite living within a society, we cannot deny the existence of individualism which is symbolized in my work 7 as physical gaps existing between the plates, which separate one's ego (self) from an 'other' ego. The gaps also indicate barriers in communication between individuals in a consumerist society. The significance of the number seven also references the Islamic tradition to care for individuals closest to your immediate living area up to the seventh neighbor. "
https://www.behance.net/ouhnniRachid
About the Curator:
Madiha Sebbani
Born 1991 in Salé, Morocco
Madiha Sebbani is a multidisciplinary artist and graduated from the National Institute of Fine Arts in Tetouan, Morocco in 2015. As an artist who enjoys experimentation and to be challenged, she also curated the seventh edition of the Mastermind Art exhibition at the Venise Cadre Gallery in Casablanca, Morocco in 2018.
From a military family, Sebbani became particularly interested in notions of authority, hierarchy, and the representation of power through costume.
Press Release (03 April 2019)
(For Immediate Release)
Group Exhibition
YMA (Young Moroccan Artists)
Curated by Madiha Sebbani
Nafie Ben Krich IChicken Ball II I 2015 | Chicken feathers, gold leaf on polyester mould | 26.5 x 20 cm
Sulger-Buel Gallery & The Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco cordially invites you to attend the opening reception of YMA (Young Moroccan Artists), a Group Exhibition of young and emerging Moroccan artists featuring Eliassaa, Nafie Ben Krich, Nasrine Kheltent, Madiha Sebbani, Mohammed Saïd Chair & Rachid Ouhnni. The exhibition will be opened in the presence of both the artists and the curator on Thursday 16 May 2019 at 18:30. The exhibition concludes on Thursday 30 May 2019.
About the Exhibition:
YMA (Young Moroccan Artists)
The YMA is a travelling group exhibition that represents young Moroccan artists working in different media and concepts that are inspired by their own unique environments. The exhibition commences at the Sulger-Buel Gallery in London in May 2019 with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in the United Kingdom and will then be transported to the KFW-DEG Bank in Cologne in June 2019 as part of their cultural program which had invited Morocco as the feature country this year.
The exhibition aims at fostering a young Moroccan contemporary art scene through a multidisciplinary exhibition of artists from the same generation. The goal of the exhibition is to showcase young creative talent and the artist’s sensibilities as both African and global citizens.
About the Artists:
Eliassaa
Born 1990 in El Jadida, Morocco
Graduated from the National Institute of Fine Arts of Tetouan, Morocco.
Eliassa presents a body of work titled Sacred Memories, as an open window to his memories of a nostalgic period of his life during which he lived with his grandmother. The superposition of transparency between the showcase and the objects is a pictorial way of representing icons that awaken our memory and our senses. This cabinet (often locked) is like a book, a collection of sacred vessels which carry memory. These ‘collections’ are present in all cultures, only the contents could differ.
Nafie Ben Krich
Born 1988 in Tetouan, Morocco
Graduated from the National Institute of Fine Arts of Tetouan, Morocco.
Ben Krich’s describes his work as a symbolic dialogue between his lived experience and his creative practice. His creative sensibility is deeply influenced by his rural youth, observing the chickens that his family raises and sells for income. Ben Krich questions the human condition by comparing our environment to that of breeding hens.
The universe of Ben Krich is absurd, tragic and comical; populated with wingless and/or headless hens. His drawings and sculptures become a satire to a society which ‘advances’ through brute consumerism.
https://nafiebenkrich.wordpress.com/
Nasrine Kheltent
Born in 1991 in Huy, Belgium
Graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Brussels, Belgium.
Kheltent is interested in the ulmic medium as a vector of images, movements and vibrations and explores this with video and performance work that stages a dramaturgy of reality. Kheltent seeks through her practice to engage with the design and architecture of the public space and with spaces that resist her movement.
Mohammed Saïd Chair
Born 1989 in Tanger, Morocco
Mohamed Saïd Chair was raised in an art-loving family. At an early age he was taught basic graphic and painting techniques by his architect mother. As a self-taught artist, nothing hindered him from pursuing a professional art career. After his academic studies, he worked at a bank as a financial adviser for three years but in the evenings he would dedicate most of his free time to developing new techniques at the studio. He later became a successful entrepreneur but could not resist the call to make art full-time. After taking this leap of faith, he’s been working on developing a consistent art portfolio that is undeniably influenced by his banking & entrepreneurial journey. His artworks reflect, through a contemporary expression and style, a thorough breakdown of the entrepreneurial and consumption-obsessed world.
Chair is concerned by our consumerist society and the implications thereof on individual identity. In his paintings, he uses boxes covering individuals’ heads as a metaphor to describe a vicious social order that produces similarly standard individuals, rather than real people with disparate characters.
Rachid Ouhnni
Born 1983 in Marrakech, Morocco
Geography graduate from the National Institute of Fine Arts of Tetouan, Morocco.
Raised in the medina of Marrakech, Ouhnni’s works are inspired by the opulent materials and linguistic culture of his immediate surroundings in the context of a broader social cultural community.
7 is an art installation composed of 49 copper plates of similar size. There are 7 plateshorizontally, vertically, and diagonally. Each line contains six pictures of faces and one QR code. The faces symbolize members of society, and they belong to different family members from various genders, ages, and races. The QR code alludes to the interference between materialism and consumerism within our communications with one another.
“Despite living within a society, we cannot deny the existence of individualism which is symbolized in my work 7 as physical gaps existing between the plates, which separate one’s ego (self) from an ‘other’ ego. The gaps also indicate barriers in communication between individuals in a consumerist society. The significance of the number seven also references the Islamic tradition to care for individuals closest to your immediate living area up to the seventh neighbor. “
https://www.behance.net/ouhnniRachid
About the Curator:
Madiha Sebbani
Born 1991 Salé, Morocco
Madiha Sebbani is a multidisciplinary artist and graduated from the National Institute of Fine Arts in Tetouan, Morocco in 2015. As an artist who enjoys experimentation and to be challenged, she also curated the seventh edition of the Mastermind Art exhibition at the Venise Cadre Gallery in Casablanca, Morocco in 2018.
From a military family, Sebbani became particularly interested in notions of authority, hierarchy, and the representation of power through costume.
Details of Venue:
Address: 51 Surrey Row, Unit 2 La Gare, London SE1 0BZ
Telephone: +44 203 268 2101
Email: christian@sulger-buel-gallery.com
Duration: Thursday 16 May 2019 at 18:30 – Thursday 30 May 2019
Gallery hours during exhibitions: Monday - Friday: 10:00 - 18:00 Weekends or other times by appointment only.
About Sulger-Buel Gallery:
With over three decades experience in collecting and studying African Art, Christian Sulger-Buel became the remaining partner of Sulger-Buel Lovell Gallery which had been in operation since 2014. Specialising in the contemporary art of Africa and its Diaspora, the team at Sulger-Buel Gallery builds on half a decade's commercial experience in presenting dynamic, challenging and exciting art exhibitions, publications and consultancy services. The gallery provides a focus for those in London to acquaint themselves with choice work from one of the fastest developing, ground-breaking and important areas in the field today - African art. Visitors and collectors can look forward to cutting-edge and influential exhibitions at its London space as well as at international art fairs by an international team of gallerists, consultants and curators.
Media Contacts:
Christian Sulger-Buel
Director
Mobile : +44 777 578 2955
Email: christian@sulger-buel-gallery.com
(ENDS)