Hassan Hajjaj UK/Morocco, b. 1961

Hassan Hajjaj (b. 1961, Larache, Morocco), is an artist working principally in the photographic medium, with bases in both Morocco and the UK. Hajjaj’s photographs feature the powerful and rhythmic colors and patterns of North Africa, along with figures adopting idiosyncratic poses. In his portraits, the artist produces creative frames that combine commercial objects consumed in Morocco, including drinks, cans of food, toys, recycled tires, and matchboxes. Rather than being mere decorations, theseare reinterpretations of Morocco’s traditional mosaic patterns and tiles from Hajjaj’s perspective, giving excellent expression to the complexity of contemporary culture. His artistic vision represents the coalescence of powerful North African visual elements and his experiences with multicultural artistic realms that he encountered as a matter of course in the vast and cosmopolitan city of London during the 1970s and 1980s, including street music, fashion, and interior design. Boasting a defiant and creative spirit, Hajjaj’s work guides us into a world that is diverse and exhilarating.

Hassan Hajjaj was born in the northern Moroccan city of Larache and works and lives in Morocco and England. Hajjaj’s numerous solo and group exhibitions include those at the Hayward Gallery, London; Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris; Somerset House, London; Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); the British Museum, London; the de Young Museum, San Francisco; Centre Pompidou, Paris; and National Museum of the 21st Century (MAXXI), Rome. His work has been collected by a number of leading institutions, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, Guggenheim Museum Abu Dhabi, Brooklyn Museum, and the British Museum.