portrait by Stephan Vanfleteren in October 2015
Sidi El Karchi (Sittard, 1979) studied at the Academy of Visual Arts Maastricht. Last year Galerie Post + García showed the solo presentation 'A search for sincere desire', which also included the publication of the same name. At the same time, the documentary 'Sidi El Karchi - Portrait of a painter' premiered in Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht, which was later broadcast on L1 and NPO.
His work is included in numerous (museum) collections, including Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht, Museum Van Bommel Van Dam Venlo, Schunck Heerlen and DSM Collection. He lives and works in Maastricht.
Stijn Huijts (director of the Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht), wrote the text 'Master of the human dimension' about the Limburg artist for the publication 'A search for sincere desire'. “While installation art, video art and photography reigned supreme in the art world, and excessive formats seemed to be a condition for the international success of artists, he steadily worked on an extremely refined oeuvre of portraits, an oeuvre in which the 'human dimension is the binding factor. Although he sometimes takes his canvases directly from iconic works by artists such as Vermeer, Whistler, Van Gogh and Michelangelo, these art-historical quotes can ultimately be traced back to personifications of more universal, archetypal concepts and identities.
With a backpack full of art history and a palette in which the collective memory of the viewer is one of the primary colors, El Karchi presents a series of penetrating, psychological portraits that transcend visible reality because they represent timeless human emotions and experiences.
Also in the way in which El Karchi knows how to handle the specific challenges of the medium, his exceptional visual talent and his acquired mastery are apparent. Whether it concerns the challenges of the material, such as pencil, acrylic, oil paint, paper and canvas, the challenges of the dimensions and composition, or the challenges of the chromatic scheme, the colorite; everything in these works exudes a careful search for the ultimate balance in the image.
Due to the special combination of conceptual and painterly qualities, a journey of discovery in the El Karchian universe never gets boring, not least because for those who want to see it, this universe is an endless declaration of love, to art history, to painting and to man. ” (from 'Master of the human measure', by Stijn Huijts, published in 'A search for sincere desire')
