Malek Gnaoui

A ceramist by training, Malek Gnaoui studied at the School of Art and Decoration and deepened his apprenticeship at the National Center for Art Ceramics (Sidi Kacem Jellizi). Malek often offers ceramic installations (raw or screen-printed) in which he integrates light, soundtracks or videos. The notion of the "spiritual" is explored in his works from popular imagery and customs and traditions. A series of works deals with the figure of the sheep and all the imagery that surrounds it during the ritual of sacrifice, a ritual practiced by Muslims. This figure leaves us perplexed, whether it is portraits of sheep, knives or objects with horns, the viewer vacillates between two references: that of the bloodthirsty ritual, and that of the metaphor of the herd. He carried out two artistic residencies: that of the Cité des Arts in Paris and that of the Center des Arts Vivants de Radés (Tunis).