July 7, 2008
The Magic Stroke of an Moroccan Artist - Fouad Bellamine
Fouad Bellamine was Born in 1950 in Fès, Morocco, lives and works in Rabat.
After graduating from the School of Applied Arts in Casablanca, he started exhibiting in Morocco in 1972. Also, he was professor of Visual Arts in a Rabat high school. In 1980, he held his first exhibition in France. Soon after, he was invited to participate at the twelfth Biennale of Paris in 1982. After obtaining a bursary from the French government, Bellamine settled down in Paris as an artist resident at the Cité Internationale des Arts.
Then, he completed his studies at University of Paris VIII in History and Theory of Art. Meanwhile, he had numerous collective exhibitions throughout France, Belgium and the U.K. as well as worldwide such as in Spain, Portugal, Finland, the Middle East and Egypt, Senegal, California, Tunis. In 1987, he participated to the Biennale of São Paulo in Brazil. Since he had returned to Morocco in 1989, Bellamine contributed actively to the promotion of contemporary art in his country. In 1997, he initiated the creation of a permanent collection of contemporary art in the Children’s Hospital of Rabat, first experience of its kind in Morocco. His works have been acquired by several public and corporate collections such as Moroccan institutions as well as the Museum of the Arab World Institution (IMA) in Paris, the national fund for contemporary art (FNAC) in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, the Museum of Africa and Oceania in Paris, the Kinda foundation.
Untiltled, acrylic on canvas, 160x140cm, 1999
Moroccan contemporary artist, Fouad Bellamine, was born in Fez in 1950 and was raised amidst varied artistic and creative influences in the Medina of his home town. Bellamine came from a family of skilled craftsmen, and he learned many of his painting techniques from his father who was a talented artist. From an early age he was intensely interested in light and space, an interest which influences his work to this day.
Pursuing his passion for art, from 1967 Fouad Bellamine studied at the School of Applied Arts in Casablanca, going on to the University of Paris where he completed a Masters degree in the History and Theory of Art. He later became a Professor of History and Art at the University of Rabat.
His first exhibition in 1972 in Rabat featured a selection of his abstract landscapes, which were well received by critics. Throughout the 1970s Bellamine explored the use of different materials in art and it is during this experimental period that he developed his unique style of minimalism with bold single-color brush strokes which is still evident in his current work.
Bellamine’s first solo exhibition in 1980, called “Praise the Horizontal”, was held in the city of Montpellier in the South of France. In 1982 his eight meter high artwork was displayed at the 12th Paris Biennial, after which it was sent to the Museum of Modern Art in Paris were it remains today.
Upon being awarded French citizenship in 1983, Bellamine moved to Paris, where he exhibited his work extensively. He also explored new dimensions of his artistic skill, with his series called “Table of God”, depicting his new style of using a range of brush strokes to blur the picture, thereby challenging the norms of time and space.
In the 1990s Fouad Bellamine returned to Morocco and starting working at the Rabat University. His ongoing passion for artistic expression led him to establish a permanent collection of contemporary art in Rabat. Fouad Bellamine’s artworks have been exhibited throughout Morocco and France, as well as in Belgium, the UK, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Egypt, Senegal, Tunis, California, Brazil and the Middle East.
Current Estimated Prices of Bellamine's artwork. Artprice has databases with images and 290,000 catalogues on line. 25 million auction results, prive levels and indices covering 405,000 artists. Upcoming sales from 2,900 auction houses. Signatures and biographies of artists. Artwork estimates.
"The origin of the World", photographic work of the artist Moroccan Fouad Bellamine representing a vagina and a dome, has triggered the anger of Iran's ambassador to Mexico, which has requested the withdrawal of an exhibition held in Puebla (Mexico)."The ambassador of Iran saw the work, he found that it was an offense against Islam, he flew to Fouad Bellamine, he protested, arguing that it was detrimental to Islam and asked him to withdraw the work. They were competing and the ambassador has left very angry. "
"What I do has nothing to do with religion and its desecration", "It's very serious and unacceptable to make my work a trial of intent requiring an act of censorship under the threat of war of cultures ", The artist has complained in a statement received by the AFP office in Rabat.
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