Born in 1936 in Asilah, Morocco, Mohamed Melehi enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-arts of Tetouan. He left for Seville, then on to Madrid in 1955. His career path continued to Italy, France and eventually to New York in 1962. Upon returning to Morocco in 1964, he taught painting, sculpture and photography at the Casablanca Ecole des Beaux-arts. In 1965 Melehi collaborated with Abdellatif Laâbi and Mustapha Nissaboury to create the Souffles cultural review. Il founded and directed the artistic and literary review Intégral in 1971. In 1974, he co-founded and directed Shoof, a publishing and film production firm.
With Mohamed Benaïssa, he became the co-founder and vice president of the Al Mohit cultural association and the International Cultural Moussem of Asilah in 1978.
Melehi was director of the arts at the Ministry of Culture from 1984 to 1992.
A cosmopolitan artist and leader of the Moroccan modern movement, Mohamed Melehi helped to shape the aesthetic of postcolonial and pan-Arab artists’ networks. In recognition of his geometrical experiments, the cultural revolution operated within the Casablanca School, or his work as a photographer, editor, designer, graphic designer, and muralist, Mohamed Melehi is a major figure in the world of 20th century art.
His work has been the subject of many exhibitions throughout the world, and several retrospectives have been devoted to his career. Among the latter is the current exhibition by the Alserkal Foundation in Dubai. Curated by Morad Montazami, the exhibition was shown first in London at The Mosaic Rooms in early 2019, then at the Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL) in Marrakech. Michel Gauthier, curator at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, recently published a monography that examines the twenty formative years of his career.