Mohamed Melehi was cofounder of the Casablanca School in Morocco, a post-colonial modern art movement from the 1960s. Melehi incorporated waves into the works he created. They sometimes take the shape of human body parts or burst upwards like magma, and at other times they are fully abstracted and deconstructed. However, at their origin, these waves are Melehi’s interpretation of woven tribal products known as Glaoua rugs, which are crafted from a broad range of textile techniques that form bands on elongated flatweaves, common in Amazigh tribal tradition. As early as 1970, he started using lacquered cellulose car paint to apply flat and bright colours to wooden surfaces. He sought to achieve flatness in the composition and a subtle absence of the artist and therefore left no visible brushstrokes on his work. In Composition (1968), Melehi approaches his desired flatness even when using oil paint on canvas. The artist’s deliberate manipulation of continuity and discontinuity in the painting engages the viewer in a playful experience: they can choose to follow the vibrant flow of the wave from one side to another or to gaze at the whole image, embracing its animated motion and optical bliss.
This is the first time the work of Mohammed Melehi is presented at Biennale Arte.
—Fadia Antar
