Djabril Boukhenaïssi, A night with O.R., 2025. Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim.
Five Rising Contemporary Artists You Should Know
In T Magazine’s article “Five Rising Contemporary Artists You Should Know,” writer Laura Bannister spotlights emerging talents whose work is reshaping the art landscape beyond New York and Los Angeles. Among them is Djabril Boukhenaïssi, a Paris-born artist whose practice bridges painting, engraving, and philosophy. A graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts, Berlin University of the Arts, and the University of Paris 8, Boukhenaïssi is preparing for his first U.S. solo exhibition at Mariane Ibrahim Gallery in Chicago this November.
Boukhenaïssi’s spectral works—painted in soft tones of white, violet, and umber—capture dreamlike scenes shaped by memory and the distortions of artificial light. Through layered pastels and oils, his figures and landscapes appear partially dissolved, as if suspended between waking and dream states. His recent residency at Fontfroide Abbey in France, home to Odilon Redon’s mystical triptych La Nuit, deepened his engagement with the theme of nocturnal introspection. The abbey’s atmosphere subtly infiltrated Boukhenaïssi’s paintings, infusing them with a quiet luminosity that embodies both mystery and reverie.
Excerpted words written by Laura Bannister for The New York Times Magazine.
