Abdelmalik Berhiss was born in 1971 in Essaouira, Morocco, where he continues to live and work. He grew up in a farming village in the heart of the Chiadma region, home to Arab-Berber tribes. Like his ancestors, he cultivated the land while simultaneously developing a self-taught artistic practice.
His vivid, pointillist compositions are both hypnotic and intricate, traversed by furrows and meanders. Animated by a precise gesture, tirelessly repeated and varied, they create an illusion of perpetual motion. Layered motifs appear to float, gently swirling into infinity.
Berhiss’s work transport us to the origins of the world, offering an inner and spiritual journey. They unveil a phantasmagorical bestiary made up of mysterious monsters and chimeras, inspired by the ancestral tales and legends that shaped his childhood.
His work is steeped in the influence of Berber craftsmanship and Islamic architecture. Richly colored and filled with organic, sinuous forms, his paintings also evoke the rock engravings of the Atlas Mountains, Aboriginal art, and the flamboyant architectures of Gaudí and Niki de Saint Phalle.
In 2007, he was awarded a medal by the Académie des Arts, des Sciences et des Lettres of Paris in recognition of his contribution to the development of art and culture in Morocco.
