Abdelkader Benchamma
The artist
Born in 1975 in Mazamet (France), Abdelkader Benchamma lives and works in Paris and Montpellier. Benchamma chooses to work in a sole medium: drawings. He adopts different approaches to the drawing process, sometimes moving across a sheet of paper with the meticulous strokes of an engraver, sometimes spreading over a wall with lavish gestures that appropriate the space. The matter escapes from the frame in a form of organic growth. Inspired by literature, philosophy, astrophysics and esoteric reflections, his works create visual scenarios that question our relationship to reality as they probe the frontiers of the invisible.
Exhibitions
-
Cosma
January 7 - March 18, 2023
Paris - Beaubourg -
Signes
September 3 - October 24, 2020
Brussels -
From the Paper to the Wall
June 6 - July 26, 2019
Brussels -
Engramme
March 16 - May 19, 2019
Paris - Beaubourg
Biography
| Birth | Born in 1975 in Mazamet, France |
|---|---|
| Residence | Lives and works in Montpellier and Paris, France |
| Education | 2003 - École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris, France 2000 - École Supérieure des Beaux Arts, Montpellier, France |
SOLO SHOWS (SELECTION)
| 2024 | Het Noordbrabants Museum (HNBM), Den Bosch, Netherlands |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Solastagia: Archaeologies of Loss, The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada Œuvre croisée, Librairie des Colonnes, Tangier, Marocco Géologie des déluges, Fondation François Schneider, Wattwiller, France COSMA, Templon, Paris, France |
| 2022 | Abdelkader Benchamma, Sant’Euno Church, in collaboration with Palazzo Butera and FIAF, Palermo, Italy Abdelkader Benchamma, solo show at Galerie Templon’s booth, Art Brussels 2022, Brussels Expo, Brussels, Belgium |
| 2021 | Rayon fossile, Collection Lambert, Avignon, France Echoes, Rupture et Associés, Paris, France |
| 2020 | Signes, Galerie Templon, Bruxelles, Belgium |
| 2019 | Symetrie et soupirs, In Situ : Art Contemporain et Patrimoine, Abbaye de Lagrasse, Lagrasse, France Abdelkader Benchamma : Fata Bromosa, MRAC, Sérignan, France Engramme, Galerie Templon, Paris, France Rumeur des cercles, Galerie les Chantiers Boite Noire, Montpellier, France Un artiste, une œuvre, Fondation Hélénis special commission, Montpellier, France |
| 2018 | L’horizon des évènements, CENTQUATRE-Paris, France Echos de la Naissance des Mondes, Collège des Bernardins, on the occasion of the Nuit Blanche, curated by Gaël Charbau, Paris, France |
Voir plus
GROUP SHOWS (SELECTION)
| 2023 | Prendre le soleil, Hangar Y, Meudon, France Neither the sky nor the earth, Lago/Algo, Mexicó City, Mexico Metro ! Le Grand Paris en mouvement, Cité de l’architecture et du Patrimoine, Paris, France Histoire de Pierres, curated by Jean de Loisy, Villa Medici, Rome, Italy Constellations, Musée d’art moderne, Céret, France Immortelle, MO.CO., Montpellier, France |
|---|---|
| 2022 | Ce que nous avons perdu dans le feu, Villa Arson, Nice, France |
| 2021 | Comics Trip!, Collection Lambert, Avignon, France Un autre monde///Dans notre monde, Lieu commun, Espace d’art contemporain, Toulouse, France |
| 2020 | Un autre monde///Dans notre monde, FRAC Grand Large — Hauts-de-France, Dunkerque, France Artistes à la Une : Togeth’HER 2021, Monnaie de Paris, Paris, France |
| 2019 | Un autre monde/// Dans notre monde, Frac PACA, Marseille, France Eldorado - Lille 3000, Le Tripostal, Lille, France Syncopation, Pola Museum of Art, Hakone, Japan 100 artistes dans la ville, Montpellier, France Air, stone, water, X, Fondation Helenis, Montpellier, France |
| 2018 | Melancholia, Fondation Boghossian, Brussels, Belgium (Un)conscious: A series of small serendipities, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| 2017 | On aime l’art…!, Collection agnes b., Fondation Yvon Lambert, Avignon, France Tamawuj, Sharjah Biennal 13, Commisaire : Christine Tohmé, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates EcoSystéme, commissaire : Mohamed Bourouissa, Château d’Oiron, France Monts et Merveilles, Le Bel Ordinaire, Pau, France |
Voir plus
COLLECTIONS (SELECTION)
| Musée régional d’art contemporain, Sérignan, France | |
| FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France | |
| MATHAF, Musée Arabe d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Doha, Qatar | |
| FRAC Occitanie Montpellier, Montpellier, France | |
| DRAC Centre, Orléans, France | |
| FRAC Languedoc Roussillon, Montpellier, France | |
| Musée des Beaux Arts, Orléans, France |
Voir plus
RESIDENCIES (SELECTION)
| 2018 – 2019 | Villa Medicis, Roma, Italy |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Beirut Art Residency, Lebanon |
| 2016 | a.r.i.a Residency, Algiers, Algeria |
AWARDS
| 2024 | Finalist for the Marcel Duchamp prize, Paris, France |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Winner of the Occitanie-Médicis Price, France |
| 2015 | Winner of the Drawing Now Price, France Art Collector Price, France |
PROJECTS
| Grand Paris Express, Vitry centre, France |
Press
The Art Newspaper - january, 2024
Les nommés du Prix Marcel-Duchamp dévoilés
Le Quotidien de l'Art - january, 2024
Le prix Marcel Duchamp révèle ses 4 finalistes
François Salmeron
Canvas - January, 2024
Finalists for the Marcel Duchamp Prize 2024 Announced
Beaux Arts Paris - january, 2024
Abdelkader Benchamma, finaliste pour le Prix Marcel Duchamp 2024
Les Inrockuptibles - July, 2023
Les déluges sortent du cadre
Télérama - janvier 2023
La Chronique d'Olivier Céna
The Art Newspaper - janvier 2023
La Fondation François Schneider donne carte blanche à Abdelkader Benchamma
The Art Newspaper.fr - mars 2020
Le Grand Paris Express, laboratoire pour les artistes
Anne-Lys Thomas
Daily Art News Paper.fr - décembre 2019
Pour Abdelkader Benchamma, le dessin est une fin en soi
Sébastien Planas
Libération - octobre 2018
Nuit blanche à la belle étoile
La Croix - octobre 2018
Une plongée cosmique dans la nuit blanche
M le Magazine du Monde - avril 2018
Exploration souterraine
Art Absolument - juillet 2011
Le dessin comme archipel
News
Orsten Groom
Oda Jaune
Abdelkader Benchamma
GROUP SHOW – IMMORTELLE
MO.CO, Montpellier
From March 11 to May 7, 2023
As part of the group show Immortelle at MO.CO, Oda Jaune, Abdelkader Benchamma and Orsten Groom will be exhibiting their work from March 11 to May 7, 2023. Immortelle offers an ambitious panorama of young French figurative painting. For the first time, the exhibition will be spread over all the art centres and will be organised in two parts.
Abdelkader Benchamma
GROUP SHOW – LE DESSIN COLLECTIONNÉ
Drawing House, Paris
Through May 16, 2023
On the occasion of the group show Le dessin collectionné, Abdelkader Benchamma exhibits his work Engramme until May 16, 2023.
Abdelkader Benchamma
INSTALLATION – BIENNALE ARCIPELAGO MEDETERRANEO
Church of SS. Eunio e Giulano - Palermo
From October 22 to November 27, 2022
As part of the Sete-Palermo Festival, Abdelkader Benchamma’s solo exhibition Cosma will open on October 22, 2022, with the support of Palazzo Butera and the French Institute of Palermo. This exhibition curated by Federica Fruttero gathers works produced during the artistic residency of the artist in the Palazzo Butera in June 2022.
Abdelkader Benchamma
GROUP SHOW – CE QUE NOUS AVONS PERDU DANS LE FEU
Villa Arson, Nice
From February 5 to April 17, 2022
An exhibition imagined by Lola Gonzàlez at the invitation of Éric Mangion. “Winter 2020, there is the discovery of the universe of Mariana Enriquez, a slap. The title of her book haunts me “What we lost in the fire”. November 2021, I have just finished her latest novel “Our share of the night”, I am stunned and deeply touched by the power of her writing. So I borrowed her words for the title of this collective exhibition, a way for me to invite Mariana among us and a way for me to invite Mariana among us and to pay her a tribute.
Abdelkader Benchamma
RAYON FOSSILE – SOLO SHOW
Rayon Fossile
Collection Lambert, 5 Rue Violette, 84000 Avignon, France
October 29, 2021 through February 20, 2022
The Lambert Collection invites Abdelkader Benchamma to take over the entire first floor of the Hôtel de Montfaucon. Entitled ‘Rayon Fossile’, the exhibition is organized around an initiatory journey through possible worlds, past, imaginary, future, written or dreamed, assembled in a narrative that unfolds slowly in the rooms of the museum.
Abdelkader Benchamma
ECHOES – SOLO SHOW
Rupture et Associés
1 place André Malraux, Paris
From October 23 to November 27, 2021
Conceived as a total immersion in the universe of the artist, the exhibition will feature the artist’s latest works of ink on paper. The opportunity for us to admire the gesture of Abdelkader Benchamma and to unveil the mystery on his so-magnetic works.
Abdelkader Benchamma
UN AUTRE MONDE//DANS NOTRE MONDE – GROUP SHOW
Le Printemps de Septembre
25, rue d'armagnac, Toulouse
September 17 - October 17, 2021
This project, initiated at the galerie du jour agnès b. in 2016, has taken various forms, from a travelling group exhibition to a laboratory of epistemological experimentation. Through a selection of eclectic works, it highlights the precursory character of this editorial and artistic adventure as well as the ever-present relevance of its favorite themes.
Abdelkader Benchamma
Jim Dine
Jan Fabre
INAUGURATION DE LA FONDATION HELENIS GGL – GROUP SHOW
FONDATION HELENIS GGL, MONTPELLIER, FRANCE
Inauguration - November 2020
For its inauguration, the Helenis GGL Foundation in Montpellier is hosting four personalities from the contemporary art world: Abdelkader Benchamma, Jim Dine, Jan Fabre and Marlène Mocquet. Each of the four artists will present an artwork for the event – which will open the season in what aims to become one of the city’s major cultural centres.
