Artwork Deep Dives

A Deeper Dive: “There is no abstract art that is 100 per cent so.” A Silkscreen by Mohamed Melehi in the Dubai Collection

Author
Dr. Martin Nixon - Zayed University Assistant Professor of Art History
Published
26 April 2024

Mohamed Melehi (1936-2020) is an internationally celebrated artist, designer, and teacher. His work combines modernist abstraction, Afro-Berber motifs, and his own distinctive use of saturated colour and wave-like forms. Born in the Moroccan coastal town of Asilah, he studied in Morocco and then in Spain, Italy, France, and the USA. In 1964 he returned to Morocco and with fellow artists Farid Belkahia and Mohammed Chebaa founded the Casablanca School, where students were encouraged to engage with both Bauhaus-influenced modernism and the Moroccan visual culture around them. [i]