Najia Mehadji was born in 1950 in Paris.

A prominent artist on the contemporary art scene in Morocco, she has also been recognized in France since the 1980s, with several museums exhibitions, including two retrospectives in 2018 and 2019.

Her dual origins, French and Moroccan, led her to create a synthesis of Western and Eastern cultures.

From a very early age, her interest in the avant-garde and the expression of the body made her invent her own tools and a unique approach to painting.

In the 1970s, in France, her commitment to the recognition of women in the world of contemporary art led her to join the Femmes/Art group and work for Sorcières magazine.

Najia Mehadji's work can be divided into several important creative periods. After the impression paintings (1980-1990) influenced by contemporary music and body expression, followed by large-format monochromatic paintings/monochromatic drawings on linen canvas, with universal symbolic forms (1990-2010), Najia has been developing, since 2010, works centered on gesture, inspired by oriental calligraphy and dance. She thus creates her own writing in continuous and dynamic lines, in a physical and mental performance. At the same time, she has created works that rebel against the barbarity of war (notably the fate of women) and against the death penalty throughout the world.

Her works are in numerous collections, including those of the Institute of the Arab World (France), the National Fund for Contemporary Art in Paris (France), the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Center Georges Pompidou (France), the Museum of Modern Art de Céret (France), the Amman Museum of Fine Arts (Jordan) and the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Morocco).

Najia Mehadji lives and works between Paris and Essaouira, Morocco.

Photo: Sebastien VINCENT