Francesco Clemente, Brice Marden, Helen Marden, and Julian Schnabel, four prominent New York-based artists, are exhibiting their works for first time together at Morocco’s Mohammed VI Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art (MMVI) in Rabat until October, said Africa News on Sunday.
The 27 paintings picked by curator Vito Schnabel focus on the artists’ travels and how these experiences influenced them.
Vito, Julian Schnabel’s son, pointed out, “They really have also spent half their life’s practice making their art and getting their inspiration from their travels.”
The four artists have been friends for over 50 years, and Vito has known them his entire life.
Helen Marden traveled to Europe and Morocco before coming to New York, and she has wonderful recollections of the hills surrounding Marrakech.
She commented, “Juxtaposition of the colors (when) you drive in Marrakech, up in the hills. You see that kind of jagged edge to many buildings and houses, and I love how the colors bleed into one another. I mean it’s my kind of aesthetic experience.”
Clemente’s travels led him to India, where he stayed intermittently for a decade.
He studied Sanskrit, Hindu, and Buddhist literature in Chennai (formerly Madras), where he became acquainted with the city’s culture, handicrafts, and folk art traditions.
The artist, who was born in Italy, believes that the show in Morocco would inspire young Moroccans to utilize art to express themselves creatively.
Clemente emphasized, “The main reason one makes an exhibition like this is for one 18-year-old young Moroccan artist to walk in these rooms and feel inspired and find the courage to be who he is.”
Inaugurated by King Mohammed VI in October, 2014, the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMVI) is the first museum within the Kingdom to be devoted entirely to modern and contemporary art, and is also the first public institution to meet international museographic standards.
The architecture of the MMVI is closely linked to that of city of Rabat. Located in the heart of the capital, the architecture of which is imbued with both a specific identity and a rich cultural diversity, the building was born of a desire to integrate this urban fabric into its design.