Mariane Ibrahim to Represent Slimen Elkamel

Mariane Ibrahim is pleased to announce the representation of Slimen Elkamel, a Tunisian artist whose painting practice is rooted in storytelling, writing, and the imaginative landscapes of Tunisia. Born in 1983 in Mazouna, in the region of Sidi Bouzid, Elkamel draws from oral traditions and popular poetry to construct expansive visual worlds where reality and imagination converge.

 

Elkamel’s practice often begins with writing, which serves as both a generative framework and a point of departure for his paintings. Closely aligned with free figuration, his work unfolds within perspective-free spaces where figures appear suspended, theatrical, and liberated from realism. Rather than illustrating narratives, Elkamel creates open-ended constellations of images that invite viewers to imagine, assemble, and inhabit their own stories.

 

This approach was recently presented in Ligne(s) de vie, a solo exhibition at the gallery’s Paris space, offering insight into his evolving pictorial language. Working on partly black-primed canvases, Elkamel builds his compositions through thousands of minute acrylic dots, producing luminous, vibrating surfaces. The exhibition foregrounded storytelling as a living, mutable process—shaped by memory, repetition, and transformation—while positioning the viewer as an active participant in the narrative space.

 

Drawing from both vernacular traditions and art historical references, Elkamel’s layered compositions recall the stacked narrative planes of the Italian Primitives and the visionary density of artists such as Henry Darger. His use of dispersed, unaligned points resists the logic of mechanical reproduction, favoring a tactile, analog sensibility that foregrounds intuition, rhythm, and imperfection. Through this approach, Elkamel proposes painting as a site of reverie, renewal, and shared imagination.

 

“I am beginning this new chapter with Mariane Ibrahim, committed and ambitious. From our very first exchange, I was able to sense the rigor of its professionalism, the ease and fluidity of working with the entire team, and above all the importance of the human experience that surrounds the work and gives it its strength and its truth. Today, I move forward with serenity, carried by the momentum of experimentation and adventure. I carry within me many projects, dreams waiting in the wings, and lines of research still searching for their light. Finding a space that welcomes me and believes in my artistic approach gives me the feeling that these visions are now closer to fulfillment. I am deeply grateful to collaborate with a team endowed with a strong human sensitivity, an intelligent and courageous vision, and one that offers art the space it needs to breathe, to transform, and to freely continue its quest.” — Slimen Elkamel