Mohamed Melehi art book

Melehi, by Michel Gaultier / a large 208-page hardcover published by Skira in 2019 (Melehi died in October 2020) / text in French and English / ISBN 9782370741141

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Born in 1936 in Asilah, Mohamed Melehi started studying at the Ttouan School of Fine Arts in 1953, he then joined the engraving section of the Ecole nationale des Beaux-arts de Paris in 1960. He started exhibiting in 1963. He lives and works between Marrakesh and Tangier. Melehi is one of the main modern Moroccan painters. Since the 1960s, he has created a body of works based on the recurring pattern of the wave. His canvases are always optical abstractions with strong edges -- the lines are sharp, the colours clearly circumscribed and the movements of the brush invisible. The waves themselves are often reconfigured, turned vertically to become flames or crossing the canvas obliquely....Through time, Melehi has remained faithful to his project, reconfiguring the same elements in his exploration of colour and shape, while changing details, such as the orientation or colour combination, and adding other abstract or symbolic shapes.