Mustapha Azeroual
About Mustapha Azeroual
Mustapha Azeroual is a Franco-Moroccan artist, born in 1979. He lives and works between Tours (Fr) and Marrakech (Ma). Before pursuing photography as a self-taught artist, he followed a scientific path. Since 2013, his work has been represented in France by the Parisian gallery Binôme, as well as in Morocco, by 47, Dar el Bacha in Marrakech. In late 2015, he joined Fresh Winds as part of the contemporary art biennial in Gardùr, Iceland. That same year, he began teaching photography at the Studio Créa Paris School. Two years later, the photographer developed the ELLIOS 2017 project. The goal was to study light in partnership with LESIA (Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales et d'instrumentation en Astrophysique). In 2018, he participated in the final of the Camera Clara prize. In partnership with curator Marjolaine Lévy, he was the laureate of the 2024 BMW Art Makers Prize.
Photographic approach of Mustapha Azeroual
Mustapha Azeroual has successfully combined his passion for laboratories and science with his photographic approach. He first became interested in pioneering photography processes such as gum bichromate or daguerreotype. Through an empirical method, he explores historical techniques through the challenges of contemporary photography. He questions all the constituent elements of photography such as perception, representation, temporality, color, or recording. Four main principles emerge from his photographic perception: the study of light, the reception and rendering of color, the motif, and the support. With light as his main subject, he creates immersive photography experiences. These experiences mainly result from two factors in his work. The first is the use of different mediums such as three-dimensional installations, videos, or even a solar printer. The second is to invite the audience to move around the artwork, thus becoming the actor of their experience by multiplying their points of view.
Exhibitions and Residencies
Since 2008, the artist has been the subject of several solo exhibitions and has participated in numerous group exhibitions. His works are exhibited all over the world. "The Tree and the Photographer," featuring the Resurgence series, was his first major exhibition in 2011 (ENSBA, Paris). He then participated in the first Biennial of Contemporary Arab World Photographers with his work Radiance#2 (Binôme Gallery, Paris). For the second edition of this biennial, following his partnership with LESIA, he presents The Third Image with Syrian artist Sara Naim (Binôme Gallery, Paris). In 2018, his works were exhibited alongside those of international artists at the "Afric is no island" exhibition (MACAAL Museum, Marrakech), "J’emporterai le feu" (Jaou, Tunis), and "Akal" (CDG Foundation, Rabat). In 2019, he exhibited notably at the French Institute of Beijing.
In addition to his solo and group exhibitions, Azeroual has participated in art fairs and salons worldwide. In 2012, he was present at the Beirut Art Fair. He participated in Art Paris in 2015, 2016, and 2018. He exhibited in New York (Aipad Art Fair, 1:54), Dubai (Design Days Dubai), London (Art 14), Cape Town (Cape Town Art Fair), and Amsterdam (Unseen).
His works have been integrated into public and private collections, such as the French Museum of Photography in Bièvres, the JP Morgan Collection, MACAAL (Museum of Contemporary African Art Al Maaden), and the CDG Foundation (Morocco). Since 2008, Mustapha Azeroual has participated in about ten artist residencies, including the La Capsule photo creation center in Le Bourget, where he is a permanent resident.
Exhibitions at Hangar : In the Shadow of Trees (2022)
