Kamil Bouzoubaa-Grivel
For Kamil Bouzoubaa-Grivel, drawing is a meditative act, similar to traditional embroidery in which patterns emerge from repetitive gestures. In playing with transpositions, repetitions and fixations, an artistic process emerges that involves both randomness and precise planning -at times following a rigid and meticulous approach, at other times chaotic with bold edits. By creatively harnessing the imperfections and limitations of his material, Bouzoubaa-Grivel discovers new forms, and digital gestures such as swiping and pinching also have a place in his artistic process.
In his practice, Bouzoubaa-Grivel combines typography and calligraphy with influences from North African Amazigh culture, biomorphism, and the abstract comics of Yūichi Yokoyama. From the interplay of these media, he creates his own visual language with forms that resemble letters and signs. He often starts from black and white graphic grids and geometric patterns to create different shades of gray and evoke depth.
In a time where smartphones and flat screens reign supreme, Kamil explores the tension between computer-generated patterns and the physical traces they leave behind. His drawings are a reflection on materiality and relief, exploring the relationship between surface and depth. Kamil Bouzoubaa-Grivel uses oil-based ink for his drawings, which he applies to coated paper, resulting in a glossy black that creates relief and texture after drying.
This interaction between the screen and the analog drawing is also reflected in the photographic reproductions of Kamil's work. The moiré effect created when documenting his drawings makes the digital and the manual collide and mix. In the transition from digital to physical, from immaterial to tangible (and vice versa), new nuances emerge.
Kamil Bouzoubaa-Grivel (°1992) is a French-Moroccan artist based in Paris. He studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, and the Art Institute of Chicago. He presented solo exhibitions at Le Tzara (Fantômes se croisent et se peignent, 2021) and Cité Internationale des Arts (Hack'n'slash, 2021) in Paris, at Sporta Pils Dārzi in Riga (LV) (Summering, 2022), and at House of Beau in Rabat (MA)(Les jours s'allongent, 2024). He has also participated in many group exhibitions, a.o. in Paris (Bétonsalon - Centre d'art et de recherche, Fondation Pernod Ricard, Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Fondation Fiminco...), Montpellier (MO.CO. Panacée), Brussels (Komplot, Institut de Carton), and Cēsis (Cēsis Contemporary Art Centre).
