RACHID KORAÏCHI
Born 1947 in Ain Beida, Algeria.
Lives in France, works in France, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt.
Koraïchi’s work is influenced by his heritage as a Quraishite, a transcriber of Quranic text, in the Aurès region of Algeria. Language, whether written or spoken, transmits history, faith, culture, and life. For African artists in particular, it is a powerful combatant against pernicious myths about Africa’s supposed lack of history or letters, as well as a medium for visual experimentation. For Koraïchi, an artist deeply invested in democratic and free speech movements, the omnipresence of language - both readable and inscrutable - is a political statement.
The artist’s exploration of script quickly evolved to meld characters from Arabic with his own personal system of codes, numbers, and marks. He has referred to his visual lexicon as an ‘alphabet of memory,’ using it to articulate not only his aesthetic vision, but also his views on co-existence, tolerance, and perseverance.
Rachid Koraïchi, Jardin d'Afrique, 2021, Woven tapestry, 129.92 x 90.94 in (330 x 231 cm)
Rachid Koraïchi, Le Chant de l'Ardent Désir I, 2021, Alabaster, 43.31 x 43.11 in (110 x 109.5 cm)
Rachid Koraïchi, Le Chant de l'Ardent Désir II, 2021, Alabaster, 43.31 x 43.11 in (110 x 109.5 cm)
Rachid Koraïchi, Le Chant de l'Ardent Désir III, 2021, Alabaster, 43.31 x 43.11 in (110 x 109.5 cm)
Rachid Koraïchi, La Montagne aux Étoiles I, 2021, Acrylic on canvas, 55.12 x 55 .12in (140 x 140 cm)
Rachid Koraïchi, La Montagne aux Étoiles II, 2021, Acrylic on canvas, 55.12 x 55 .12in (140 x 140 cm)
Rachid Koraïchi, La Montagne aux Étoiles III, 2021, Acrylic on canvas, 55.12 x 55 .12in (140 x 140 cm)
Rachid Koraïchi, Les Vigilants, la Nuit...I, 2021, Black painted corten steel, 66.93 x 51.18 x 18.11 in (170 x 130 x 46 cm)
Rachid Koraïchi, Les Vigilants, la Nuit...II, 2021, Black painted corten steel, 66.93 x 51.18 x 18.11 in (170 x 130 x 46 cm)
Rachid Koraïchi, Les Vigilants, la Nuit...III, 2021, Black painted corten steel, 66.93 x 51.18 x 18.11 in (170 x 130 x 46 cm)
Rachid Koraïchi, From the series Les Sept Variations Indigo, 2002, Serigraphy on Aleppo silk, ink and paint, 129 x 19 in. each
Rachid Koraïchi, Les Sept Variations Indigo 14, 2002, Serigraphy on Aleppo silk, ink, and paint, 126 x 19 in.
Rachid Koraïchi, From the series Les Sept Stations Célestes, 2018, Alabaster, 19.5 x 19.5 x 1.25 in. each
Rachid Koraïchi, From the series Les Sept Stations Célestes, 2018, Alabaster, 19.5 x 19.5 x 1.25 in. each
Rachid Koraïchi, From the series Les Sept Stations Célestes, 2018, Soft paste porcelain, blue and white oxide, 20 x 16 x 16 in.
Rachid Koraïchi, From the series Les Sept Stations Célestes, 2018, Soft paste porcelain, blue and white oxide, 20 x 16 x 16 in.
Rachid Koraïchi, Selected from Le Chemin des Roses [Path of Roses], 1995- 2005, as part of "Seeing Through Light: Selections from Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Collection," Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Rachid Koraïchi, Soleil Bleu IV Les Hosties Bleues I, 2017, Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 12 in.
Rachid Koraïchi, From the Series La Prière des Absents, 2014, Bronze, 118 x 51 x 3 in.
Rachid Koraïchi, From the Series La Prière des Absents, 2014, Bronze, 118 x 51 x 3 in.
Rachid Koraïchi, From the Series La Prière des Absents, 2014, Bronze, 118 x 51 x 3 in.
Rachid Koraïchi, La Prière de l’Absente, 2014, Trevira, cotton, wool, silk and acrylic, 151.5 x 114 in.
Rachid Koraichi, From the Series The Invisible Masters: Al Naffari, 2008, Cotton appliqué on cotton, 137 x 79 in.
Rachid Koraïchi
From the Series The Invisible Masters: Sheikh Ahmad al-Alawi
2008
Cotton appliqué on cotton
137 x 79 in.
Rachid Koraïchi, From the Series The Invisible Masters: Sheikh Sidi Ahmed al-Tijani, 2008, Cotton appliqué on cotton, 137 x 79 in.
Rachid Koraïchi, From the Series The Invisible Masters, 2008, Cotton appliqué on cotton, 137 x 79 in. each
Rachid Koraïchi, La Mémorie d’un Sage, 2012, Acrylic on canvas, 31.5 x 23.5 in.
Rachid Koraïchi, Les Jardins d’Amour: Le Silence n’est pas le Silence I, 2012, Acrylic on canvas, 31.5 x 23.5 in.
Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle sits down with the artist to discuss his background, his art and how he came to build this paradisaical cemetery for migrants.
Le projet a été dévoilé ce week-end, alors que ce mardi marquera le 60e anniversaire de l’indépendance de l’Algérie. Rachid Koraïchi, l’artiste de renommée internationale a choisi de faire don de sa future sculpture à la Seine-Saint-Denis qui l’avait contacté pour un travail mémoriel.
Aicon is proud to announce Rachid Koraïchi’s Le Jardin d’Afrique in Zarzis, Tunisia, has been shortlisted for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, 2020-2022 cycle. The Jardin was a focal point of his solo exhibition at the gallery earlier this year: Le Chant de l’Ardent Désir.
Rachid Koraïchi participated in the I Conference on Islamic Ornamentation organized by the José Val del Omar School of Art in Granada.
Koraïchi introduced a project he initiated in Tunisia in response to the Mediterranean migrant crisis by creating cemeteries for victims to be buried and remembered with dignity.
Inimitable Algerian artist Rachid Koraïchi's latest exhibition Le Chant de l’Ardent Désir is a transcendental and hypnotic experience that compels the viewer into examining our shared experiences of loss, longing, human suffering and dignity.
In inventing a unique artistic language, Koraïchi draws upon many languages and cultures, including those of the Berber and Tuareg peoples. Within his fold, too, are invented Chinese ideograms plus magical squares and talismanic glyphs and other auspicious signs.
On Friday February 25, 2022 from 6:30 p.m., the Algerian Cultural Center, located in Paris, is organizing an evening devoted to the work of Rachid Koraïchi, in the presence of the artist.
Every month, hundreds of galleries add newly available works by thousands of artists to the Artnet Gallery Network—and every week, we shine a spotlight on one artist you should know. This week, Artnet spotlights Rachid Koraïchi at Aicon Gallery.
One such site is Zarzis in southeastern Tunisia, where last June Rachid Koraichi, an Algerian artist, decided to build a cemetery, scented by jasmine blossoms and flowering orange trees, that he calls the Jardin d’Afrique, or Garden of Africa.
Ekpuk, a Nigerian American artist, painted a mural for a new gallery, Arts of Global Africa, in March 2017. His art is inspired by nsibidi, a sacred means of communication among male secret societies in southeastern Nigeria. Evolving out of the graphic and writing systems of nsibidi, Ekpuk’s art embraces a wider spectrum of meaning to communicate universal themes.
The exhibition juxtaposes precious old manuscripts, grouped together in three display cases, and works by contemporary artists and writers, most of which are from the Cabinet d’Art Graphique at the Centre Pompidou, in which writing is combined with imagery, sometimes even disappearing completely. This journey through inscriptions bears witness to a primordial interweaving of writing and drawing and reveals a universal vital energy. This energy circulates through gestures and lines, fragile crucibles of history, human beliefs and emotions.
For Algerian artist Rachid Koraïchi, art has the power to enact change, and his paradisical cemetery for migrants who drowned while crossing the Mediterranean is a shining beacon of hope.
The New York season saw some fine gallery shows.
Aicon Gallery congratulates artist Rachid Koraichi on his participation in the 2016 Marrakech Biennale, Not New Now, running from Feburary 24 - August 5, 2016. During the Biennale's run, we are honored to be hosting the first major showing of Koraichi's work in New York, in collaboration with October Gallery, London, with the exhibition Rachid Koraichi | Love Side by Side with the Soul, on view from March 3 - April 16, 2016.
![Rachid Koraïchi, Selected from Le Chemin des Roses [Path of Roses], 1995- 2005, as part of "Seeing Through Light: Selections from Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Collection," Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.](https://img.artlogic.net/w_1500,h_850,c_limit/exhibit-e/623dff28c1370d61553fab04/97f73a0965d7940a54f522de5c23e1e5.jpeg)
