Karim Bennani

Karim Bennani – Untitled, 1965

Born in Fez in 1936, Karim Bennani entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Fez in 1951. Accompanied by Farid Belkahia, he left for Paris in 1954, where he studied at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts and the Académie Julian. These formative Parisian years brought him into direct contact with European modern movements and the major aesthetic debates of the time, while reinforcing his identity.

Upon his return to Morocco in the late 1950s, Bennani quickly established himself as one of the pioneers of a generation determined to build an autonomous national art scene, freed from the Orientalist gaze. In 1964, he participated in the founding of the AMAP (Moroccan Association of Plastic Arts), which he would go on to chair several times.

His painting practice is characterized by research into matter, the sign, and geometric construction. Through frequently abstract compositions, Karim Bennani explored the relationships between memory, architecture, and space, occasionally incorporating references to the decorative motifs of Moroccan cultures.

From 1974 to 1984, alongside artist Hassan Slaoui, he founded and ran the Structure BS Gallery in Rabat. There, they exhibited the biggest names on the Moroccan scene as well as foreign artists, establishing the venue as one of the country's pioneering galleries alongside L'Atelier and the Nadar Gallery.