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nown and renowned for his famous linear
paintings of the medina, Nejib Belkhodja is
above all an innovative artist.
Born in Tunis in 1933, he studies in the Tunis
Institute of Fine Arts and shows his work for the
first time in 1956 at the Tunisian Salon of Plastic
Arts. His talent and creativity are then
immediately noticed and rewarded with the Municipal Prize of Tunis. Later,
while a long stay in Milan and Paris, the painter is fascinated by Delauney
and Kandinsky’s abstract works, which will mark his own paintings.
Definitely, Nejib Belkhodja’s work can be distinguished from the
artistic practices of his time, transmitted by the School of Tunis.
Reacting to idealized images of reality, the painter claims his
individuality, defined itself by a poetic approach of the architectural
Tunisian heritage.
However, while the Tunisian painter’s work is closely linked to the
birth of the abstract movement in Tunisia, it also reflects a surprisingly
modern duality. Therein lies the secret of its timelessness: showing
the cultural heritage with a fresh and unique look.
Nejib Belkhodja’s paintings are also understood as messages by
those who know how to observe. As a matter of fact, the artist
describes himself his paintings as « a space of junction between
iconography in architecture and in arabic lettering, notably in kufic
script ». Beyond abstract paintings, his medinas represent a genuine
aesthetic expression, too often gone unnoticed.
Therefore, Nejib Belkhodja was an activist painter, never hesitating to
defy conventions, refusing artistic clichés institutionalised by colonial
culture. It was, moreover, in that spirit that he joined in the sixties the
« Groupe des Six », in order to promote an authentic and innovative
Tunisian culture. He died in 2003 at the age of 74, leaving behind a
unique and historical legacy. I