Mohamed Lekleti

Mohamed Lekleti

Mohamed Lekleti was born in Taza, Morocco.
He lives and works in Montpellier. He holds a DEUG in cinema (Montpellier University) and a master’s degree in visual arts from the University of Aix-en-Provence.

With a narrative and poetic approach, Mohamed Lekleti’s works carry a profound political, social, and cultural dimension. His art, full of movement, questions the world, power, the duality of human nature, territorial belonging, immigration, and exile. His creations hybridize various formal, conceptual, and fictional registers. His work transcends the fixed limits of canvas or paper by multiplying associations and entanglements, exploring different polysemies, oxymorons, and allegories, which ultimately blur perceptions and challenge certainties.

These iconographic motifs, among others, are thoughtfully integrated into his works to provoke reflection and encourage the viewer to explore the multiple dimensions of his artistic message. By using symbolic and evocative imagery, Mohamed Lekleti transcends the boundaries of verbal language to communicate complex ideas about the human condition and contemporary sociopolitical issues.

Mohamed Lekleti is one of the emblematic figures of contemporary drawing in France and Morocco. He has been featured in and contributed to numerous exhibitions, including at the Palazzo delle Belle Arti in Turin (2012), the Fortress of Salses (MNF), where he examined the concept of borders in “Visa for a Territory” (2013), the Blachère Foundation in Apt with “Fuir” (2017), the Paul Valéry Museum in Sète with “Me Suis-Je Égaré” (2018), the “A Hundred Meters from the Center of the World” art center in Perpignan with “Khamsa” (2019), the ISBA in Besançon with “Simorgh” (2020), the Arab World Institute Museum in Paris with “Drawings from the Arab World” (2021), and the La Panacée/MO.CO Museum with “SOL!” (2023). In 2023, he was also featured at the MAC in Lyon with “Incarnations: The Body in the Collection,” at the MNAC in Lisbon with “Blue and Other Colors,” and at the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rabat with “110 Years, 110 Works,” a collection of the Société Générale Foundation.

His works are part of numerous foundations and collections, including the Arab World Institute Museum in Paris, the MAC in Lyon, the FRAC of Picardy, CNAP, the Detroit Museum in the USA, the Mohammed VI Museum in Rabat, the Société Générale Foundation, the Blachère Foundation, the “A Hundred Meters from the Center of the World” art center, the Kamel Lazaar Foundation in Tunisia/Switzerland, and the Al Maaden Museum (MACAAL) in Marrakech.