Born in 1987 in Tahla, Morocco
Lives and works in Mohammadia, Morocco
Hicham Matini graduated from the National Institute of Fine Arts of Tetouan, Morocco in 2014, and questions the fundamental visual representation of subjects relating to geopolitics. His creative research is concerned with the representation of cultural hegemony in visual language and the consequences that the latter impose in contemporary public debate.
Matini has notably exhibited at the 5th Marrakech Biennale in 2014 and at the Museum of New Art (MONA) in Michigan, United States of America. As a multi-disciplinary artist, he explores through a variety of media the notions of borders, urban violence and new generational conflict. Matini’s work Dead Image questions the complex dynamic which exists between spectators and media, and draws on the collective imagination to reclaim the popular symbol which highlights the juxtaposition between tradition and modernity. This dialogue continues to divide a contemporary Moroccan society. The artist’s work may also be seen as a commentary on the transmission of popular culture, and how consumption thereof is welcomed when it promises a distraction or form of escape. Matini’s included work aims to propose grids in-depth readings at a time when the "virality" of the image was the only criterion of its veracity.
