Mahi Chafik-Idrissi

Mahi
Painter and Sculptor

Based in Marrakech, I am a visual artist. In my sculpture, I explore the boundary between pure abstraction and vegetal inspiration. My work is characterized by great versatility in scale, ranging from collector's pieces to monumental sculptures.
Through wood, metal, or composite materials, I translate the vital force of plants, their curves and their impulses, without ever falling into literal figuration. Each sculpture is an invitation to feel nature rather than to look at it: a work that breathes, grows, and anchors itself in space.
Recently, I completed a major public commission: two identical steel sculptures, now installed at the base of the Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat.

My painting's purpose is to be an invitation to meditation. Inhabited by the pictorial sign since childhood, I stand at the crossroads of tradition and modernity. I have forged a singular expression there, weaving the spirituality and rigor of Oriental calligraphy with the subjectivity of the Western gesture.
My tones, soft and warm, are born from the layering of transparent coats, thus offering depth and density to the work. Painted or subtly engraved into the material with often intuitive gestures, my signs constitute a visual langu...

Studied at the School of Fine Arts in Casablanca until 1975, painting, drawing, ceramics, art history and aesthetics.
Studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Liège from 1975 to 1978, monumental painting, drawing, history of art, semiology and photography.

Group exhibitions
2022 : "Convergences" BCK Art Gallery, Marrakech.
2021 : "Parcours" at Polart Gallery. Marrakech from February 20 to April 13, 2021.
2018 : L'Arbre Enchanté, Installation. Palais Bahia, Marrakech.
2018 : Polart, exhibition of the group 'Pôle International des Arts Plastiques' in Dar Cherifa, Marrakech.
2015 : 50 years of painting in Morocco. Museum of the palmerais. Marrakesh.
2015 : Festival of calligraphy at the Mediathèque of Longwy, France.
2015: 50 years of painting in Morocco. Media library of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. See photos of the vernissage
2015: 3rd National Contemporary Art Exhibition, Marrakech.
2013 : 2nd contemporary art fair. Casablanca. (Press release)
2013 : Tutto Un-Museo Su Una-Parete, (All A-Museum-On A Wall) Vista galery, Rome. Italy.
2012 : Ambientart III, "The Mediterranean, a sea that unites sea that divides " Gaeta, Italy. (Press release)
2010 : NOIR SUR BLANC gallery , Marrakech.
2009 : PALM PLAZA Hotel, Marrakech.
2008 : Fan-Dok gallery, Rabat. Maroc.
2007 : Atlas Medina and Spa Hotel , Marrakech.
2007 : Al Maqam cultural space. Marrakech.
2007 : Exhibitions for the benefit of social work associations.
2007 : Exhibitions for the benefit of the association Cœur-optimiste, ...