In his works influenced by Islamic art that combine Western and Eastern references, Rachid Boukharta aims to convey a vital energy. Vibrating with intense colours, his drawings whisk the viewer off into in a dreamlike and yet real world, one that is both personal and universal, one that lies at the borders of reality and alternate dimensions and comprises plant-like suggestions, sexual elements and abstract structures.
Inner landscapes and fragmented bodies, female genitals and full-frontal images of the penis allow Rachid Boukharta to express questions about sexual identity and the divisions to which it can give rise. He strips these potentially brutal sexual representations of any provocative aspects by embracing delicacy and attention in his expression of an imaginary world.
… Invisible pour les yeux (… Invisible to the eyes), whose title is taken from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, presents Rachid Boukharta’s ongoing research into all that touches him deeply: his attractions, modesty born out of religion and the duality between religious beliefs and sexual orientation.
Rachid Boukharta (b. 1988, France) is in residency as part of the Cité internationale des arts’ "TRAME" program.
This exhibition is part of the 2022 edition of the Drawing Now Art Fair.