Painter
Ilias Selfati
Forests crossed by white horses, clouds and flowers suggested by a single stain: Ilias Selfati paints an allusive figuration in which nature seems to be reborn from a dream of origins.
The artist
Career
Born in Tangier, Ilias Selfati graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts in Tetouan in 1991 and held his first solo exhibition in Tangier as early as 1987. He trained in printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Complutense University of Madrid (1992-1994) and in screen printing in Madrid, and worked in printmaking workshops in Asilah and Tetouan, with Mohammad Omar Khalil and with Mohamed Melehi. After living in Paris, Dublin, Los Angeles and New York, he works between Tangier and Madrid. He is regarded as one of the leading figures of the new figuration in Morocco.
A bestiary of origins
Transparency, drips and veils of colour serve a poetic, enigmatic painting that ignores borders. Drawing, thought and “hunting”, as he describes his method, produce mythological creatures, deep forests and a bestiary that question original innocence and the human condition.
Landmarks
- 1987 — First solo exhibition, Tangier
- 1991 — Graduates from the École des Beaux-Arts, Tetouan
- 1992-1994 — Printmaking, Complutense University of Madrid
- 1993-2000 — Repeatedly selected for the National Lithography Prize, Madrid; honourable mention in 2000
- 2000 — “Penser avec les mains” painting prize, Instituto Cervantes, Morocco; selected for the European Painting Prize, Ostend
- 2001 — Residency, Cité internationale des arts, Paris
- 2004 — Galerie Delacroix, Tangier
- 2022 — “Dreaming a Dream”, with Amina Benbouchta; “The Animal Inside Me”, Galerie Bab Rouah, Rabat
Collections
- Calcografía Nacional, Madrid
- Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid
- Public and private collections in Morocco and Europe
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In the same spirit
Discover works by Mohamed Jaamati, Youssef Zouhari and Abdelkarim El Azhar, or browse all Moroccan paintings for sale.
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