Dubai-based French-Tunisian artist Taher Jaoui will present his improv-inspired work at the MENART fair in Paris, which runs from Oct. 23-25. The event brings together galleries and artists from the Middle East, North Africa and their diasporas.
Jaoui’s “Semi-Forms” series will feature at the fair, alongside an interview with the artist about his creative practice.
After taking acting classes to overcome his inhibitions, the former financier turned to painting. He continues to consider acting the purest form of art because “the instrument and the brush is our body, our emotions, and they have to be ready.”
This physical approach informs work rooted in abstract expressionism. Jaoui often lays his canvases on the floor while working with pastels, oils, acrylics and, more recently, tufted fabric.
“I’m always in the process of doing, erasing, correcting, adjusting, even turning the canvas,” he explained.
In “Semi-Forms,” Jaoui reimagines portraiture through abstraction and fragmentation. His robot-like faces hover between distortion and completeness, inviting viewers to find their own meanings in the shifting forms.
The series draws on Pablo Picasso’s abstract portraits, which were influenced by the Spanish artist’s exposure to traditional African masks and sculptures in the early 1900s. Jaoui also cites US artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and French painter and sculptor Jean Dubuffet as major influences, describing them as “the two big chords.”
Once displayed, Jaoui relinquishes control of how his work is interpreted. He compares the experience to watching an improvised stage performance, noting that two viewers may respond to the same scene in entirely different ways.
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