Hassan Hajjaj (Moroccan, b.1961) was born in Larache, Morocco, and immigrated to London at an early age. Heavily influenced by the club, hip-hop, and reggae scenes of the city, as well as by his North African heritage, Hajjaj is a self-taught, versatile artist whose work includes portraiture, installation, performance, fashion, and interior design, including furniture made from recycled objects, such as Coca-Cola crates and aluminum cans. In the late 1980s, Hajjaj began experimenting with photography, taking studio portraits of friends, musicians, and artists, as well as people on the streets of Marrakech. These colorful images are a mix of contemporary fashion photography and Pop Art, and also draw inspiration from African artist Malick Sidibé (Malian, b.1936), acting as a commentary on the influence of tradition in high and low branding and the effects of global capitalism. In 2009, Hajjaj was shortlisted for the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Jameel Prize for Islamic Art. His solo exhibitions have been held at The Third Line, Dubai; Rose Issa Projects, London; Freies Museum, Berlin; as well as group exhibitions at The Marrakesh Art Biennale; Edge of Arabia, London; Photoqua, Paris; and Re-orientations at Rose Issa Projects; among others. His work is in the collections of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the Farjam Collection, Dubai; Institut des Cultures d’Islam, Paris; Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunisia; Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA; and more. The artist lives and works in London and Marrakech.
