Younes Khourassani

Born in 1976 in Casablanca, Younes Khourassani grew up in the heart of the old medina, in a space carrying a collective memory steeped in a spirit of resistance, where matter intersects with history. He trained at the Casablanca School of Fine Arts, after an initial path at Lycée Jabir Ibnou Hayane, where he studied notably under Mohamed Hamidi. His trajectory can be read as an extension of the dynamic carried by the Casablanca School, embodied by artists such as Mohamed Melehi, Farid Belkahia and Mohamed Hamidi, while developing a contemporary approach of his own. After graduating, he began working directly with matter, through assemblages combining metal, musical instruments and found objects, in the lineage of what critic Edmond Amran El Maleh called a "poetry of matter." During the lockdown period, his path took a decisive turn: matter ceased to be an end in itself and became a place of passage, and his work turned toward an exploration of light as a structuring force of perception. His work has been shown in numerous international institutions and events, notably in Paris, London, Abu Dhabi, Marrakech and Amsterdam, and his pieces have entered major public and private collections, including the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rabat and the Bank Al-Maghrib Museum. He has also carried out several major institutional commissions around fundamental resources — water, earth and food security. He is currently developing new bodies of work, including large-scale earthen wall pieces and sculptures, extending his research into matter, light and passage.

A material-driven practice, where pared-back color abstractly reconstructs the textures and mineral details of the real.