Untitled

Mohamed Melehi is regarded as a major figure of postcolonial Moroccan art and Global South modernism and a multi-faceted painter, photographer, muralist, graphic and urban designer, art teacher and cultural activist. He was part of the core group of educators of the Casablanca Art School during its most radical period – between 1964 and 1969. Melehi’s early experiments with abstraction in Rome and New York (he took part in the Hard Edge and Geometric Painting exhibition of the MOMA, NYC, 1963) is seen across his various techniques.

Untitled (1961) fits within the artist's 1960-1962 series of 'black works,' reflecting Melehi’s formative years at the Academia di Belle Arti in Rome. In 1957 the artist would frequent Toti Scialoja's studio known as “Bianco e Nero” which opened up his exploration into minimalist art and birthed avant-garde ideas, from cybernetics to Zen philosophy. Between 1960 and 1962, just before Melehi departed Rome for New York, the artist debated with Hard Edge American painting in his work, even before his time in New York. The series of ‘black works’ are documented in the artist's catalogue (Michel Gauthier, Melehi, Paris 2019) and a similar piece from the ‘black works’ series was exhibited at Galleria Trastevere Rome, Melehi, Nuvolo, Samonà, 1961. Further documentation from his 1962 solo show at Galleria Trastevere shows Melehi playing the drums and one of his 'black works' executed with a similar composition shown behind him.

In addition, the indication of location and date alongside signature - ‘ MELEHI PARIS 61’ is in alignment with Melehi’s participation in the Paris “Deuxième Biennale des Jeunes” in 1961. It was during this time Melehi stayed in Paris for several months integrating with the engraving studio at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Mohamed Melehi’s work has featured in numerous solo exhibitions including a retrospective at the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, 1995, and the Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, 1984 and recently New Waves: Mohamed Melehi and the Casablanca Art School Archives, The Mosaic Rooms, London, 2019; MACAAL, Marrakech; Alserkal Arts Foundation, Dubai, 2020. His work is held in international museum collections such as the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Tate Modern, London; L'Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; MOMA, New York, and MATHAF: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha.