1934 - 1967

Died in Casablanca (Morocco), born in Boujad (Morocco), lives in Paris (France).

Ahmed Cherkaoui Ahmed Cherkaoui (1934 – 1967) is considered as one of Morocco’s most prominent modern artists. Of Berber descent, his work is shown internationally and is represented in many collections including those of the French Institut du Monde Arabe and the Musee d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris.
The work of Cherkaoui is particularly recognizable by his large and bright-painted works on jute, to which the artist applies abstract and symbolic signs that hark back to an aesthetic originating from Polish and French avant-garde artists and traditional motifs. The artist acquired these influences during his training in Paris and Warsaw between 1956 and 1961 after having studied calligraphy in Casablanca. Here in this work, as well, are elements from his native region, like Amazigh Tattoos (traditional tattoos mainly seen in the original inhabitants of the Atlas and Rif mountain areas), and motifs that we find on traditional prayer mats there. With this language of forms, Cherkaoui initiates an exercise of narrative that gets lost in the process. What remains to us is an image that works by the associations that we make with it.