Hicham Benohoud
Born in 1968 in Marrakech, Morocco
Lives and works in Marrakech
Hicham Benohoud was born in Marrakech in 1968. After receiving a baccalaureate degree in the visual arts degree in 1987, he decided to teach at high school level. After teaching for a time, he turned to the profession of visual artist. In 2003, he completed his studies at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg, France.
In an early work from 1998, he showed thousands of small ID photos, meticulously juxtaposed one against the other and glued to canvas, or tacked directly onto the wall. The work included 4455 tiny images grouped on one wall, 4200 painted and laminated photographs, and 3600 painted photographs held together with a rubber band. The artist, as painter/photographer, immediately took spectators by surprise, underscoring the difficulty to categorise his works.
With the series La Salle de Classe (Classroom), Hicham Benohoud, inspired by his years as a teacher, developed a photographic approach based upon staging. He borrowed objects from the classroom and used them to portray his models in an unorthodox “décor”.
The same process was used for his series Azemmour, in which the artist placed his models alongside objects found at the shooting location. Here again, the staging is disconcerting, playing with our own perceptions.
Photography occupies a central role in the interdisciplinary practice of Hicham Benohoud, which ranges from painting to new media. He establishes the connection of identity politics and relations of power, often using his own body as a photographic subject.
Since 1998, Hicham Benohoud’s work has been shown internationally, notably in Paris at Centre Georges Pompidou, Grand Palais, Musée des Arts Décoratifs and Palais de Tokyo. He has also exhibited at the Hayward Gallery in London.
Her participated in “Africa Remix” (one of the world’s major art events, dedicated to African contemporary art), and to two significant exhibitions: “Contemporary Photography in the Arab World” at the Aperture Foundation in New York and “Regards des photographes arabes contemporains” at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris.
He has participated in many biennials and international art fairs, such as Photo España, Paris Photo, Art Paris, Foire de Bruxelles, Biennale de Dakar, Rencontres photographiques de Bamako, Biennale de Pontevedra in Spain, Thessaloniki Biennial in Greece, Landskrona Photo Festival in Sweden, etc.
Hicham Benohoud’s work has been the subject of two monographs: La salle de classe (2001) and Des lycéens par eux-mêmes (2002). He has participated in many collective photography books, including La photographie contemporaine, Editions Scala, Les 15 ans de l’agence VU, Editions de la Martinière, Objectif photographie, Editions Autrement, and The Body in contemporary art, Thames et Hudson.
The work of Hicham Benohoud has integrated prestigious collections, including Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, La Maison Rouge - Fondation Antoine de Galbert, Fonds National d’Art Contemporain de Paris, Fonds Départemental d’Art Contemporain du Conseil Général de la Seine-Saint-Denis, Artothèque de Nantes, Calcografia Nacional Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando de Madrid, and Musée d’Art Contemporain d’Anvers.
He received the Prix Photo Service Prize in Arles and the Prix Visa pour la Création, awarded by Cultures France.