Abdelkader Benchamma: Landscape of the fall

Het Noordbrabants Museum in ’s-Hertogenbosch presents the first solo exhibition in the Netherlands by French artist Abdelkader Benchamma. His artistic evolution, influenced by studies at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and Montpellier, features a dynamic interplay of natural forms within the monochrome power of black and white. Inspired by literature, art, anthropology and esotericism, Benchamma creates an in-situ visual landscape that bridges the material and intangible. In this exhibition, he connects his work with that of Dutch masters in the museum’s collection: Bruegel and (followers of) Jheronimus Bosch.  

Through expansive, semi-permanent frescoes applied directly with ink to the museum’s walls, he transforms the space into an otherworldly realm of flows and mental landscapes. Benchamma refers to these as resonance spaces: spaces that evoke individual and collective memories—geological as well as spiritual.

A meeting of ages 
Benchamma explores the dynamics between order and chaos, the visible and the invisible, as well as the tension between the celestial and the organic. His intricate lines and patterns invite viewers to probe the boundaries of perception and reality. His preference for black and white facilitates pure abstraction, unencumbered by preconceived interpretations, allowing for a spectrum of meanings where there is no definitive right or wrong. 

In this exhibition, Landscape of the fall, Benchamma connects his work to the legacy of Dutch masters, including (followers of) Jheronimus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel, blurring temporal boundaries by physically integrating pieces from Het Noordbrabants Museum’s collection into his on-site installation. He makes connections with the engravings of fantastic landscapes by Bruegel that distort perceptions of reality, while Bosch influences his handling of the fantastic.  

Rather than imitating their iconography, Benchamma contextualizes themes like visions, apocalypses and human frailty within his unique universe of flowing lines, creating a new resonant space layered in time. Alongside his in-situ work, Benchamma created an altarpiece and several animations inspired by the engravings of Bruegel. Some new and earlier pieces by Benchamma are also on display.

Previously, Benchamma exhibited at the Powerplant in Toronto (2023), the Pola Museum of Art in Hakone (2019) and the Sharjah Biennale (2017), among others.