Page 62 - Art Review

Khalil El Ghrib

I first encountered the work of veteran artist Khalil El Ghrib at Dematerialisation is the essence of his practice. His preoccupa-
AL MAQAM Art Residence in Tahanaoute, a village near the Atlas tion with and advocacy of the death of things, primarily objects, is
Mountains on the outskirts of Marrakech. It had a little room with a fascinating. He simply states, “If we humans die, shouldn’t objects die
permanent display showcasing El Ghrib’s delicate work. That work too?” El Ghrib refuses, on principle, to sell his artwork. He is recently
comprised little pieces of decomposing objects, made out of bread, retired from a lifetime of teaching history and geography at a local
paper, etc, that nevertheless projected an allure that drew me to them. school. He talks about how he has lived a humble life with his family,
A week later, I drove with a friend to Asilah, a nine-hour train journey how he consciously decoupled his love of art from the limits of materi-
from Marrakech, to meet the artist. Over a long dinner we discussed ality. He works primarily with impoverished materials that he collects
everything from his Darwish-like (ascetic) lifestyle to his love of clas- or ‘adopts’ on his daily journey walking the shores of his hometown.
sical Arabic poetry and his devotion to the writer Khalil Gibran; He applies minor interventions to the collected ephemera. The results
all this via the tale of how he started making art at the age of seven are small sculptures made with bread, string, inscribed paper and
with the encouragement of his family, and the ethics of his art and other materials that are exposed to time, moisture and oxidation.
artmaking. I had yet to encounter a prophet in art, one who lives by Despite being dainty and insubstantial, these objects carry a potency:
what he preaches; El Ghrib was finally it. they consolidate life, death, time and obsolescence all at once.

Two stones with imprints, 2017, stone. Photo: Marco Pinarelli. Courtesy Ashkal Alwan, Beirut

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