Hamza Bounoua

Antiquity meets the current in Hamza Bounoua’s vibrantly abstracted paintings. Through vivacious forms, Bounoua breathes history into tenacious color, evoking our connection with the past. A poignant hybrid of the present and its precedent, Bounoua’s forms are deeply inspired by Arabic calligraphy and Berber signs, as well as Eastern spirituality. Enthused by the North African practice Mereedeen, Bounoua paints on reverse plexi-glass, which results in richly nuanced compositions that emphasize threads we share from continent to continent. About his beautifully conglomerated works, Bounoua states that, “Arabic calligraphy and Berber signs are interlaced with color and other forms and symbols from Africa, the orient and the west. They cannot be read or decrypted in themselves but contribute to the whole painting to give an impression of spiritual harmony and peace out of chaos.”  Bounoua’s works search for a tranquil accord in contemporary life, combining elements of the bygone with the modern.

Raised in the foothills of Algeria’s Berber Mountains, Bounoua lives and works in Kuwait.