Abdelkader Benchamma

The artist

Born in 1975 in Mazamet (France), Abdelkader Benchamma lives and works in Paris and Montpellier.
A graduate of the Beaux-Arts de Montpellier and the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, his preferred medium is drawing.
Nourished by literature, philosophy and astrophysics, his drawn installations continually challenge exhibition spaces, becoming, in his words, “spaces of resonance”, conducive to the summoning of memories, both individual and collective, geological and spiritual.
His vast ephemeral frescoes are painted directly onto walls with ink, transforming architecture into an otherworld, a world of flux and mental landscapes, between the recognizable and the indiscernible, on the border between the physical and the symbolic. Reflecting on the workings of perception, his works explore our systems of knowledge, the survival of myths and beliefs, but also reminiscences, retinal or neuronal persistence, whether on museum walls or sheets of paper.

Exhibitions

Biography

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BirthBorn in 1975 in Mazamet, France
ResidenceLives and works in Montpellier and Paris, France
Education2003 - École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris, France
2000 - École Supérieure des Beaux Arts, Montpellier, France

SOLO SHOWS (SELECTION)

2026Signs and Wonders, TEMPLON, Paris, France
Espai d'Art Contemporani de Castelló (EACC), Castelló de la Plana, Spain
2024Landscape of the fall, Het Noordbrabants Museum (HNBM), ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
2023Solastagia: 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

Voir plus

2022Abdelkader 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
2021Rayon fossile, Collection Lambert, Avignon, France
Echoes, Rupture et Associés, Paris, France
2020Signes, Galerie Templon, Bruxelles, Belgium
2019Symetrie 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
2018L’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
2017Sous la terre, des étoiles, Art Kulte, Rabat, Morocco
2016Abdelkader Benchamma, Islands, Maison du livre de l’image et du son, Villeurbanne, France
The Great Invisible Battle, The Blueproject Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
The Unbearable Likeness, Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Curiosité & Merveilles, Christie’s, Paris, France
2015Abdelkader Benchamma : Representation of Dark Matter, The Stairway Project, The Wall Drawing Commission, The Drawing Center, New York, USA
Random, FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
2014Le soleil comme une plaque d’argent mat, Carré Sainte-Anne, Montpellier, France
Simulacrum, Gallery agnes b, New York, USA
2013Le soleil comme une plaque d’argent, Commissariat Daria de Beauvais, Galerie St-Séverin, Paris, France
Abdelkader Benchamma, Gallery Federico Luger, Milan, Italy
The Invention of the Cave, Gallery agnes b, Honk Kong
2012Corrupted Theories, Gallery Isabel Van Den Eynde, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2011Le signal faible, ADN Galeria, Barcelona, Spain
Bruits de Fond, Frueshorge Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
Dark Matter, galerie du jour agnes b., Paris, France
La ligne de base du hasard, Galerie Chantiers Boite Noire, Montpellier, France
2009The Apparent Stability of Things, Galerie Chantiers Boite Noire, Montpellier, France
All these masses are just pieces from the same...- Gallery Federico Luger, Milan, Italy
2008Même les choses invisibles se cachent. Part 2 – CAC, Istres, France
Même les choses invisibles se cachent. Part 1 – ADN Galeria, Barcelona, Spain
Abdelkader Benchamma, Centre d’art contemporain La galerie, Vitry-sur-Seine, France
2007Abdelkader Benchamma, Galerie du Jour agnés.b, Paris, France
They think that once they are here, it will be ... , Gallery agnes.b, Honk Kong
2005Incidents (Invisibles), Project Room, galerie du jour agnes b., Paris, France

GROUP SHOWS (SELECTION)

2026La vie climatique. Histoires sensibles des collections privées - Triennale De leur temps #8, in partnership with ADIAF, Musée d'art contemporain [mac], Marseille, France
L'École des beaux-arts de Montpellier : une histoire singulière, in partnership with the Musée Fabre, MO.CO., Montpellier, France
ZIGN / Algerian-French Design Biennial, French Institute, Algiers, Algeria
2025Islamic Arts Biennale, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Apocalypse. Hier et demain, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, France
Lire le ciel, Mucem, Marseille, France
2024Au bord des mondes, Prix Marcel Duchamp, Center Pompidou, Paris, France

Voir plus

Le jour des peintres, Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Les lois de l’imaginaire, curated by Laure Forlay and Sophie Sizabuire, FRAC Auvergne in collaboration with the Musée d’Art et d’Archéologie, Aurillac, France
2023Prendre 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
2022Ce que nous avons perdu dans le feu, Villa Arson, Nice, France
2021Comics Trip!, Collection Lambert, Avignon, France
Un autre monde///Dans notre monde, Lieu commun, Espace d’art contemporain, Toulouse, France
2020Un 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
2019Un 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
2018Melancholia, Fondation Boghossian, Brussels, Belgium
(Un)conscious: A series of small serendipities, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2017On 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
2016Épreuves uniques, Atelier Michael Woolworth, Paris, France
Le nom d’une île, Le Pavillon Blanc, Printemps de septembre de Toulouse, Colomiers, France
A quoi tient la beauté des étreintes, FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
Se souvenir des Belles Choses, MRAC, Sérignan, France
2015a_i_d_e_-_m_ém_o_i_r_e_:_ _f_o_o_t_n_o_t_e_s_ _(_P_a_r_t_ _I_I_)_, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Un regard sur la collection d’agnes b., LAM, Villeneuve d’Ascq Traits d’esprit, Galerie du jour agnes b – Paris
Après avoir tout oublié, Asterides - Friche Belle de mai, Marseille, France
ROC, Commissariat Hughes Reip, Galerie du jour agnes b., Paris, France
Nice Drawings, Galerie Isabelle Van den Eynde – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2014Enigme au Club de la Compagnie, Centre d’art le LAIT, Albi, France
Dans ma cellule, une silhouette, La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel, France

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2003

2001
2013Chromophobia, Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Turbulences II - Espace culturel Louis Vuitton/ Fondation Boghossian, Villa Empain, Commissariat : David Rosenberg et Pierre Sterckx, Brussels, Belgium
The Immigrants, Giudecca - 56e Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Graphic, Phakt, Centre Culturel Contemporain, Rennes, Paris
Paper Trail, The Barjeel Foundation, Katara, Doha, United Arab Emirates
2012Collectionner aujourd’hui, Collection Philipe Piguet, Centre d’art contemporain, Saint-Restitut
The Island/A Game of Life, Manarat al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi
2011The Future of a Promise, 54e Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Music Covers ! , Point Ephémère, Paris, France
2010Told/ Untold/ Retold, MATHAF, Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
Biennale d’art contemporain Le Havre 2010, Musée Maritime, Le Havre, France
Reading Room, Nomas Foundation, Roma, Italy
Fabula Graphica, Grandes Galeries des Beaux arts, Rouen, France
2009Memory Time, Printemps de Septembre, Là où je vais je suis déjà, Commissaire Christian Bernard, Espace des arts, Colomiers, France
Cadavres exquis - Printemps de Septembre - Fondation Espace Ecureuil, Toulouse, France
Comic Strip, Musée d’art contemporain, Sérignan, France
2008La dégelée Rabelais, Château d’O, FRAC Languedoc Roussillon, Montpellier, France
Paperless Marks, ADN Galeria, Barcelona, Spain
Narrations, Galerie Nancy Margolis, New York, USA
2007Explosions, Nouvelles acquisitions, Frac Languedoc Roussillon, Montpellier, France
Below the light – Galerie Federico Luger, Milan, Italie
Pas un jour sans une ligne, Collections St-Cyprien, St-Cyprien, France
Drawings and Dreamings, ADN Galeria, Barcelona, Spain
2006Nous nous sommes tant aimés, Collections de St-Cyprien, Saint-Cyprien, France
A. Benchamma / A. Biasuto, Galerie Chantiers Boite Noire, Montpellier, France
Drawn, Xpace Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2005Do-Ka, La Condition Publique, Roubaix, France
2004Draw! , Commissariat Jean-François Sanz, galerie du jour. agnes b, Paris, France
Dessin? - Carré St Anne, Montpellier, France
2003Biennale des jeunes créateurs d’Europe, Carré Sainte-Anne, Montpellier, France
2001Dessins en cours..., ENSBA, Quai Malaquais, Paris, France

COLLECTIONS (SELECTION)

Grand Paris Express, Vitry-sur-Seine, France
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

Voir plus

Musée des Beaux Arts, Orléans, France
Barjeel Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

RESIDENCIES (SELECTION)

2026Villa Albertine, New York, USA
2018 – 2019Villa Medicis, Roma, Italy
2017Beirut Art Residency, Lebanon
2016a.r.i.a Residency, Algiers, Algeria

AWARDS

2024Finalist for the Marcel Duchamp prize, Paris, France
2018Winner of the Occitanie-Médicis Price, France
2015Winner of the Drawing Now Price, France
Art Collector Price, France

Press

Le Parisien Étudiant - March 2026

Abdelkader Benchamma. Signs and Wonders

Arts in the City - March 2026

Exposition Signs and Wonders, d'Abdelkader Benchamma à la Galerie Templon

Connaissance des Arts - March 2026

Benchamma se lance dans la peinture

Marie Maertens

Les Échos Week-End - February 2026

Une pépinière artistique

Ludovic Bischoff & Alice d'Orgeval

Le Journal des Arts - March 2025

One Apocalypse trop ordonnée à la BNF

Grande Loge de France- February 2025

Apocalypse - Hier et demain

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News

Abdelkader Benchamma
CONSTELLATIONS

Group show

Musée d’art moderne de Céret, France From May 13 until November 26, 2023

On the occasion of the group show Constellations at the Musée du Céret, Abdelkader Benchamma will exhibit his artworks from May 13, 2023.

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. 

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Videos

Abdelkader Benchamma

Cosma

Abdelkader Benchamma

Signes

Abdelkader Benchamma

Engramme

Omar Ba Abdelkader Benchamma Norbert Bisky Oda Jaune Chiharu Shiota

From the Paper to the Wall

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