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A shepherd encounters modernity

Vision that springs from an oral culture
Yes, that is Muhammed Ali...

 

After leaving school at age eight, this Tunisian became a shepherd. He came to France and worked as a baker's apprentice, a boxer and a street performer.
"President Mitterand", 1984

 

He would tell stories on the Pompidou Center's esplanade. That site led him to paint.

 

 

  • His works are joyful or anxious, but always kind

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Symbols recur with inner logic, as in dreams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Writing

 

Meaningless dates and phonetically-spelled words link the paintings' elements. 

 

Muslim, the artist is aware of letters' beauty, which in Islamic art replace figuration.

 

Street performer, he knows the effect of play on words. Many paintings are riddles.

 

He is not literate. That bothers him. But the handicap means that the words the appear in the paintings are not merely decorative.

 

They are his way of taming menace, and they contributes to the paintings' power.

 

 

 

 

  • We come upon his works in informal places  

 

 

 

 
Bookstore, in the historic Marais district
Chez un bouquiniste

 

Meeting the artist isn't easy. He does not have a phone and as he does not read, one can't send him a note. As well, he lives in a very simple room, not a place where he would feel comfortable receiving guests.

 

But, depending on the season, we can organize an apéritif in the bookstore or at the book stall. Jaber could drop by... and in any case, you would meet merchants who love the work and admire the artist.

 

 

• Cost: please CLICK

 

Credits : photos of cowboy and bookstore / Claude Abron ; book stall / Catherine Aubin; other photos / catalogue that the painter supplied

 

Laurent Danchin, writer on Outsiders' art, inspired this interpretation.