Rachid Ben Ali

Rachid Ben Ali (born 1978, Taza, Morocco) is a controversial Moroccan painter of Sephardic Moroccan descent.[1]

Rachid Ben Ali
Born1978 (1978)
Taza, Morocco
NationalityMoroccan
Known forPainting

Biography and work

At the age of 15 he was sent by his parents to the Netherlands. He is an autodidact. Later he attended the Polytechnic of the Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. He lives and works in Amsterdam and London.

In 2001 and 2003 he had shows in the Tanya Rumpff Gallery in Haarlem, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam. Queen Beatrix chose one of his paintings to introduce an exposition in the Stedelijk Museum.

In 2003 he won the KunstRAI award for young artists,[2] and in 2005 40 of his most recent paintings were shown at the Cobra Museum of Modern Art in Amstelveen, near Amsterdam.[3]

His work has triggered anger and threats from Islamic militants in the Netherlands. He went into hiding after death threats related to an exhibit showing "hate-imams" spitting bombs. Since then, he has required bodyguards, the cost of which are paid for by the Cobra Museum.

According to the museum's curator John Frieze, Ben Ali's gory, violent and homo-erotic canvases form a "visual narrative that illustrate personal concerns about the war, cultural and migratory displacement, homosexuality, religious intolerance and discrimination".

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References
  1. "Artist biography". Artland. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  2. "Rachid Ben Ali (Paperback)". Waterstones. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  3. "Isim Review 15 Spring 2005" (PDF). Leiden University. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
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