Nja Mahdaoui Retrospective Spans Six Decades at Bassam Freiha Art Foundation
A significant retrospective featuring Tunisian multimedia artist Nja Mahdaoui (born 1937) is currently displayed at the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. The exhibition, co-curated by Dr Michaela Watrelot, the foundation's head curator and director of exhibitions, alongside Mahdaoui's daughter, Molka Mahdaoui, explores over sixty years of the artist's work, presenting nearly 30 pieces from both his early and later career. The collection includes works on parchment, vellum, linen, and metal, as well as silkscreen prints and bronze sculptures. Notable pieces are an early painting from the Concretion series (1971) and Untitled 3 from the Azimuth series (2012). The exhibition aligns with the release of Rizzoli's first catalogue raisonné for a Tunisian artist.
Key facts
- Nja Mahdaoui was born in 1937 in Tunisia.
- The exhibition is co-curated by Dr Michaela Watrelot and Molka Mahdaoui.
- Nearly 30 works are on view, spanning over six decades.
- Works include paintings on parchment, vellum, linen, metal, silkscreen prints, and bronze sculpture.
- Highlights include Concretion series (1971), Azimuth series (2012), and Graphemes on Arches 2 (2011).
- Mahdaoui is known as a 'choreographer of letters' for his calligraphic abstraction.
- The exhibition coincides with the launch of the first catalogue raisonné dedicated to a Tunisian artist, published by Rizzoli.
- The Bassam Freiha Art Foundation is located on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi.
Entities
Artists
- Nja Mahdaoui
Institutions
- Bassam Freiha Art Foundation
- Nja Mahdaoui Foundation
- Rizzoli
Locations
- Abu Dhabi
- Saadiyat Island
- United Arab Emirates
- Tunisia