Zakaria Ramhani was born in Tangier in 1983. The son of a painter, he discovered very early the different
painting techniques in his father’s studio. Deeply influenced by the way the religious conservatives criticised his father for making figurative art, Zakaria Ramhani chose to use and transform the Islamic tradition of calligraphy, whose abstract nature allowed artists to avoid violating the prohibition against figurative representation. Zakaria Ramhani got his diploma to become a fine art teacher in Tangier in 2003, and worked as a teacher, before giving up his work to devote himself entirely to his paintings. In his own words he speaks very candidly about his work:
“I do not paint; I create faces, emotions and moods in my mother tongue. I see the painting in the history of Western art as a possibility and not finality. I see my approach as an encounter of artistic legacies from different civilizations. My work is primarily based on the use of writing, calligraphy and letters in Arabic, sometimes juxtaposed in French or English, to create figurative paintings- most of which are dedicated to portraits.
I can recall becoming fascinated and intrigued by figurative paintings and portraits at a very young age through the practice of my father who is also a painter. I quickly realized this particular practice was against aniconicism in Islam and is also found in Judaism. I remember my father praying to Allah for forgiveness when he agreed to make a portrait, which was often commissioned, before a ban imposed on himself from painting all living things in our neighborhood. Some faithful believers had an understanding of the soothsayer’s message and refused to speak to him because they thought he was committing a great sin. This guilt that I probably inherited naturally nourishes a desire to re-invent a unique way of painting in order to create a representation while not being fearful.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2014, Connotation, Artspace Dubai Gallery. Dubai, UAE
2013, May Allah Forgive me, Julie Meneret Contemporary Art, New York, USA
2012, My Face is a Word, Atelier 21, Casablanca, Morocco
Zoom Art Fair, Miami, USA.
Faces of Your Other: Atelier 21, Casablanca, Morocco
Tabari Artspace Dubai, UAE
2009, From Right to Left, Centre d’Exposition Val-d’Or, Quebec, Canada
2008, Faces of Your Other, Artspace, Dubai, UAE
2006, Le temps de la mort, Galerie de la Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France
2006, Corps possédés/Solitude collective, Galerie Crous des Beaux Arts, Paris, France
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2014, Art Toronto art fair. Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto
2014, Memory, Place, Desire, Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery, Haverford College, Haverford, USA
curated by Carole Solomone
2014, Tabari Artspace Dubai, UAE
2014, Art 14 London Art Fair, London, UK
2013, 25 Years of Arabic Creativity, Emirate Palace, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2013, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
2013, National Museum of Barhain, Manama, Bahrain
2013, Art 13 Art Fair, London, UK
2013, Tabari Artspace Dubai, UAE
2013, Atelier 21, Casablanca, Morocco
2012, Barbican Centre, London, UK. Curated by Vincenzo Sanfo
2012, Art Dubai, Contemporary Art Fair, UAE
2011, Marrakech Art Fair, Morocco, Art Dubai, UAE
2010, Marrakech Art Fair, Morocco, Art Dubai, UAE
2009, Made in Arnhem, International Festival of the Arts, Arnhem, Netherlands
2009, On the Ground, Underground, Intramoenia ExtrArt (Collaboration with Achille Bonito Oliva ),
Barletta, Italy - Art Dubai, UAE
2008, the 11 Cairo Biennale, Egypt
2008 Dak’Art, 8th Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar, Senegal
2008, Art Dubai, UAE
2008,Word into Art : Artists of the Modern Middle East, British Museum at DIFC, Dubai, UAE
Curated by Venetia Porter.
RESIDENCIES
2013, Reis Studios, New York, USA
2008, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France
2006, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France
GRANTS
French Embassy in Morocco, Exchange Program with the Moroccan Cultural Ministry
COLLECTIONS
Vanhaerents Art Collection, Belgium
Alain-Dominique Perrin Collection, Paris, France
Barjeel Foundation Collection, Sharjah, UAE
Jean-Paul Blachère Collection, France
Bank Al-Maghreb Museum, Morocco
Banque Populaire Collection, Morocco
Royal Family Collection, Morocco