Abdellah El Hariri

Abdellah El Hariri – Untitled, 1968

Born in Casablanca in 1949, Abdellah El Hariri studied at the École des beaux-arts in Casablanca from 1965 to 1969, notably in the graphic design and decoration studio of Mohammed Chabâa. Starting in 1973, he pursued his studies at the European Institute of Architecture and Design in Rome, followed by an engraving internship in Lodz, Poland, in 1980.

A member of the Moroccan Association of Plastic Arts (AMAP) since its inception, El Hariri contributed significantly to the artistic dynamics of his era. He was a founding member of several organizations, including the Association Cité des Arts, the Club Al Baida of Contemporary Art, the Moroccan Plastic Artists Union, and the Association Village des Ateliers d'Artistes.

Abdellah El Hariri developed an abstract body of work rooted in graphic design and calligraphy. Following an initial period influenced by the geometric forms of Islamic art, he gradually liberated the Arabic letter from any rigid structure, transforming it into a gestural and plastic sign.

From the 1980s onward, he experimented with surfaces burned with a blowtorch on linoleum and plastics, creating mineral textures where pigments, traces, and fragments of writing blend together in a painting practice operating at the intersection of matter, fire, and abstraction.