Fouad Bellamine – The Magic Stroke of an Artist
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.
