HAKIM GHAZALI, Morocco
Untitled, 2013
WALLS AS MEANS OF EXPRESSION
Moroccan artist Hakim Ghazali’s interest in walls as a means of expression dates back to his childhood and has shaped his art ever since.
Untitled, 2014.
That Ghazali (Casablanca, 1963) should turn a wall, a feature generally regarded as a barrier or obstacle, into a lively and expensive means of communication is typical of his outlook. He looks at his everyday environment and then turns things on their head. Despite such forays into other media and forms of expression Ghazali’s classic canvases have become his hallmark. Format is dictated by where he is working; when in the confines of his Paris apartment he tends to concentrate on smaller pieces, but trips to Morocco unleash a spiritual and practical liberation, that results in large (2m x 2m) works with a more ‘epic’ feel.
Untitled, 2014.
At first glance these can appear stark, their power provided by their scale and by the dramatic earth colours that drive across them. But closer examination yields a wealth of details, which in turn provides the key to unlocking the door of Ghazali’s art. His recurrent motifs of doors and openings. Framed in the textured walls of the traditional Arab quartier, represent a languages of access and communication. The view is always from outside, looking in, with every doorway providing a new opportunity and point of access. The walls are scored, scratched, scuffed and abraded, their rough surfaces serving to highlight the potency of the language that is scribbled, written and printed upon them.
The wall is a canvas. It speaks to me, to all of us”, Ghazali affirms.(text gallery website)
Untitled, 2011.
Courtesy: AB GALLERY LUCERNE
Arealstrasse 6
CH-6020 Emmenbrücke-Lucerne