The renowned artist offers us a magnificent gift with this grandiose exhibition, projecting us into a universe filled with light where an immense message of hope and peace resonates through his intense light, bathing all of Paris in his light.
The Light by Tahar BEN JELLOUN It is a whole poetry represented by each of these works and which leaves each time this incredible source of energy to bring luminosity and a divine message to humanity.
Tahar BEN JELLOUN was born in Fes in 1944. This great observer of life is above all a famous writer who has written more than 40 books and won numerous literary prizes, including the prestigious Prix Goncourt, notably in 1987 with his book La Nuit Sacrée.
When a person is not well, they are in darkness, and their job is to get out of there by joining the light. When we are deprived of freedom, we want to read and write to ease our minds and allow us to escape. It was at the age of 20 that Tahar Benjelloun made his debut in the world of writing. Imprisoned in a military prison, he wrote in secret to immortalize his thoughts. His book, "The Punishment," will certainly be the bestseller of 2018.
Tahar Ben Jelloun's passion for painting was revealed over ten years ago. He has always loved painting the world, so painting naturally complements his writing.
With this exhibition, we are therefore dealing with the other aspect of his writing, this remarkable work which requires a lot of precision with a very elaborate technique by the artist to transport us into the world of light and give us this impression of escape through the unpublished canvases.
According to him, there is in certain people a light and a grace which makes us forget the tragedies of this world, so his painting came to take its place to arouse or even impose these solar beings.
These paintings recall his native land, his inner country, the land of his imagination, filled with travel, encounters, and surprises. It also reflects the rhythm of his breathing, his freedom, and the deepest desire that art will save the world.
For Tahar Ben Jelloun painting is truly an exceptional art, he likes to focus on the work of light which consists of illuminating each of these works with these personal touches full of beauty and grace with this incredible feeling of hymn to freedom which emerges from these paintings. He thus wishes to transport us into a universe tailor-made by him where there is no notion of time and where our whole spirit is bathed by the world of the dance of colors and light by Tahar Ben jelloun. With these lovely paintings it is a whole world full of light, happiness, joy, and hope that this artist with undeniable talent offers us.
Tahar Ben Jelloun learned to paint by looking at the works of several artists. He felt touched by the artist's soul, thus receiving the artist's Cupid's arrow right in his heart, which gave birth in him to the love and desire to paint. He confides to us that he drew and even painted before learning to write, but he never wanted to take seriously the signs he traced on any piece of paper.
It was in 2013 that our artist took himself seriously and confronted the canvas, letting himself be guided by his imagination and creativity.
He also emphasizes that he remains fascinated by the strength of the painter Caravaggio, but all these greatest tributes go to Claude Monet because he had the art of capturing the beauty of light.
The colors used are colors of life, all the symbolism that they give off is really very interesting: green to symbolize the plant world, white to recall the purity and whiteness of the world, red which gives the notion of strength and courage,
Blue, which is the favorite color of this great artist, represents the sky and the sea, but blue also represents the city of Tangier, where he lived for more than ten years and whose symbol is hope.
Henri Matisse, was undoubtedly the greatest colorist and the most sensual artist of the 20th century, who greatly inspired the artist, the discreet man that he was affirmed that he did not paint things, but that he painted only the relationship between things.
Henri Matisse loved Morocco and he loved to capture the warm and colorful colors of this country that he loved so much. Matisse was very influenced by the light of Morocco, Tahar Ben Jelloun finds himself completely in his painting and his inspiration comes from the traditional Moroccan embroideries handcrafted by the sacred women dear to his heart, namely his mother and his sister.
Tahar Ben Jelloun, like Matisse, has this love of fabrics that are dear to his eyes.
Freeing himself from any reference to any technique, he works guided solely by color, using elongated strokes of extreme spontaneity, which burst forth with joy and great intensity to offer us splendid works of art.
Tahar Ben Jelloun's style is affirmed through the simplification of lines, he will devote himself to exalting only color, which is his privileged instrument of the communication of emotion, at the sight of these paintings it is our whole soul which is touched by the messages which it can detect there.
His painting does not aim to depict what he sees but to give the image of what he feels in order to touch our inner self.
Once bitten by the demon of painting, Tahar Ben Jelloun does not want to abandon it because what he desires more than anything is to never stop making us dream.
Exhibited in Dubai, Rome, Turin, Palermo, Marrakech, Tangier and Paris, at the sight of this exhibition our gaze is in celebration, the paintings are grandiose poems, it is here the meeting between poetry and canvas with the celebration of Beauty in all color.
“We all need the light of the mind and the sky to be able to find our place in this world.”
Tahar BEN JELLOUN
