Born in Rabat, Youssef Wahboun is a writer, poet, painter, and art critic. He is notably the author of a novel, Trois jours et Le Néant (2013), and a poetic sequence, Les Hommes meurent mais ne tombent pas (2015), which was adapted into a choreographic play by the troupe Corpscène.
He has completed two university theses at the intersection of art history and comparative aesthetics, disciplines he teaches at Mohammed V University in Rabat. A member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA), he regularly gives lectures on visual arts, particularly contemporary art in Morocco, both in Morocco and abroad.
According to philosopher and poet Hassan Wahbi, Youssef Wahboun's works are characterized by "sacrificial painting." His canvases are a constant exploration of the human condition, depicting the tragic and grotesque spectacle that reduces the human daily life. His painting is initially striking due to the texture it imparts to bodies and space—a very rough corporeality achieved through a paste mixed with crushed sand and scraps of fabric, which, strewn over the flesh, create the illusion of buboes, crevices, and cracks. This means that the plastic surface becomes difficult to handle, and the painting itself becomes laborious and impractical. In fact, this texture of discomfort is essential for creating the pursued characters that populate the artist's compositions—allegorical men and women who, with equal parts absurdity and austerity, represent the forms of humiliation suffered by contemporary humanity, irrevocably ensnared in the trap of globalization that dulls the mind while inflaming hatred.
The artist has been exhibiting in Morocco and Europe since 1993.
Recent Exhibitions:
-
True Crime Stories, solo show, Galerie Noir sur Blanc, Marrakech, 2023.
-
Miroir, group show, Galerie Abla Ababou, Rabat, 2022.
-
Rencontre d’artistes, group show, Villa Mandarine, Rabat, 2020.
-
Le Monde Va Tellement Bien, solo show, Galerie de l’Institut Français de Rabat, 2019.