Carré magique (2004) by MAHJOUB BEN BELLADalloul Art Foundation
Mahjoub Ben Bella was born in 1946 in Maghnia, Algeria. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Oran and left at age 19 to Northern France, where he completed studies at the École Supérieure d'Art in Tourcoing.
His work greatly consists in drawing forms that elicit writing without the words having to refer to any meaning: His Asemic writing became a visual language of his own.
From the city pavements to its walls, from the big paintings to the small notebooks including old wooden crates and ceramic vases, Ben Bella’s thick, lively and vivid lines have the power to inhabit any surface.
His way of disregarding perspective allows the viewer’s gaze to get lost in an illusion of infinite abundance.
At the same time the gaze will easily find a perfect structure and axis of construction within this profusion through pattern, repletion, and grid composition.
From the full biography of Mahjoub Ben Bella by Layla Abdelké Yakoub
Translated to English by Nathalie Bsat
