Exhibition Checklist

Hassan Hajjaj My Rockstars

March 25 – May 15, 2021

East Gallery

From the series Kesh Angels Sarah Bikin', 2015/1436 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Small Atlas Car Paint Tins Image: 44" x 30"(112 x 76 cm) Framed: 51 1/8" x 37" x 2 1/2” (130 x 94 x 6.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Acrobat, 2012/1433 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Diva Green OIive Tins Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 55 1/2" x 38 7/8” x 3 3/8” (141 x 98.5 x 8.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Hank Willis Thomas, 2018/1440 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Yellow Jajjah Ginger Tea Tins with Green Top Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 57 1/16" x 41 1/2" x 4 3/4" (145 x 105.5 x 12 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Omar Offendum, 2013/1434 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Small Lighthouse Harissa Cans Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 52 5/8” x 37 1/8” x 2 1/2" (133.5 x 94.5 x 6.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Alo Wala Standin’, 2015/1436 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Blue HH Tall Tea Boxes with Yellow Fatma Hand Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 56" x 38 3/8" x 3 1/4" (142 x 97.5 x 8.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Sarah Perles Gazin', 2015 / 1436 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on Kodak Paper on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Red Tomato Squeezies Image: 41" x 59" (104 x 150 cm) Framed: 53 1/8" x 71" x 4 1/2" (135 x 180.5 x 11 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 3 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Marques, 2012/1433 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Coconut Milk Tins Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 53 1/2” x 36 7/8” x 2 1/2" (136 x 93.5 x 6.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink From an Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Lisa, 2015/1436 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Blue HH Short Tea Boxes with Eye Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 52 1/4" x 38 3/8" x 3 1/4" (133 x 97.5 x 8 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series Kesh Angels Nisma Bikin', 2015/1436 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Small Colorado Car Paint Tins Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 51 1/4" x 37 1/4" x 2 3/8" (130 x 94.5 x 6 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist's Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Master Cobra Mansa, 2012/1433 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Pimentao Tins Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 52 1/2” x 37 3/4” x 2 1/2" (133.5 x 96 x 6.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Che Lovelace Standin’, 2012/1433 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with HH Green Tea Boxes with Butterfly Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 55 5/16" x 40" x 4 1/8" (140.5 x 101.5 x 10.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the installation Le Salon High Coca-Cola Crate Seat with Cushion Recycled Plastic Coca-Cola Crates, Blue Cotton, Plastic Zip and Ties with White Bamboo Print Cushion: 19 1/4" x 13 3/8" x 2 3/8" (49 x 34 x 6 cm) each Crate: 18 1/2" x 12 5/8" x 14 1/2" (47 x 32 x 37 cm) each

Jewel Box

From the series My Rockstars Khalid’s Back, 2016/1437 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda Print on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Arabic Alphabet Legos Image: 28 1/2" x 19" (72.5 x 48.5 cm) Framed: 34" x 24 3/8" x 1 3/8" (86.5 x 62 x 3.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 10 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

Viewing Room

From the series My Rockstars Mr J. James, 2009/1430 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda Print on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Smint Boxes Image: 28 1/2" x 19" (72.5 x 48.5 cm) Framed: 36 1/4" x 24 7/8" x 1 3/8" (92 x 63 x 3.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 7 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Opal Tometi, 2018/1439 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda Print on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Jajjah Mini Silver Tea Tins with Red Top Image: 28 1/2" x 19" (72.5 x 48.5 cm) Framed: 36 1/4" x 25 3/4" x 2 1/2" (92 x 65.5 x 6.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 7 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Mr M. Mazouz, 2011/1432 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda Print on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Arabic Alphabet Legos Image: 28 1/2" x 19" (72.5 x 48.5 cm) Framed: 34" x 24 3/8" x 1 3/8" (86.5 x 62 x 3.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 7 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

High Coca Cola Crate Bench with Louis Vuitton Cushion Bench with Cushion: 17” x 54 1/2" x 12” (43 x 138.5 x 30.5 cm)

From the series My Rockstars Amine Messaoudi, 2018/1440 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Green Jajjah Moroccan Mint Tea Tins with Blue Top Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 57 1/8" x 41 1/2" x 4 7/8" (145 x 105.5 x 12.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

West Gallery

From the series My Rockstars Afrikan Boy Standin', 2012/1433 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame Green "Geisha" Mackerel Cans Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 53 11/16” x 37” x 2 1/2" (136.5 x 94 x 6.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Marc Hare, 2013/1434 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Red HH Tall Tea Boxes with Blue Fatma Hand Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 55 3/4" x 38 5/16" x 3 1/4" (141.5 x 97.5 x 8.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Riz Ahmed, 2019/1440 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Green Swan Tea Boxes Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 54 5/8" x 39 7/8" x 4" (139 x 101.5 x 10 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Cardi B Unity, 2017/1438 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with HH Green Tea Boxes with Butterfly Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 55 7/8" x 40" x 4" (142 x 101.5 x 10.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Simo’s Back, 2014/1435 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Red HH Short Tea Boxes with Eye Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 52 1/4" x 38 3/8" x 3 1/4" (133 x 97.5 x 8 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Alexander Nilere, 2013/1434 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Green Tomato Squeezies Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 55 3/4" x 40 1/2" x 4 3/8” (141.5 x 103 x 11 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Muneera & Sukina, aka Poetic Pilgrimage, 2016/1437 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Blue HH Tall Tea Boxes with Yellow Fatma Hand Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 55 3/4" x 38 3/8" x 3 1/4" (141.5 x 97.5 x 8.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Keziah Jones, 2011/1432 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Blue HH Short Tea Boxes with Eye Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 52" x 38 1/4" x 3 1/4" (132 x 97.5 x 8 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars MissMe, 2018/1440 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Small Soraya Tomato Cans Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 52 1/2" x 37" x 2 1/2" (133.5 x 94 x 6.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Rilene, 2013/1434 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Green Jajjah Sencha Tea Tins with Yellow Top Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 57" x 41 1/2" x 4 3/4" (145 x 105.5 x 12 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, 2017/1438 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Red Tomato Squeezies Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 55 3/4" x 40 1/2" x 4 1/2" (141.5 x 103 x 11 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Afrikan Boy Sittin', 2013/1434 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Yellow HH Tall Tea Boxes with Blue Fatma Hand Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 56" x 38 3/8" x 3 1/4" (142 x 97.5 x 8.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Man Bellydancer, 2012/1433 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Blue Taous Mint Tea Boxes Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 57 1/4" x 39 3/4" x 2 3/4" (145.5 x 101 x 7 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Seye Adelekan, 2012/1433 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Small Olla Tomato Cans Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 52 1/2" x 37" x 2 1/2" (133.5 x 94 x 6.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Mimz, 2013/1434 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Small Soraya Tomato Cans Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 52 3/8" x 36 7/8" x 2 1/2" (133 x 93.5 x 6.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series My Rockstars Arfoud Brother, 2017/1438 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Black Cartier Green Olive Tins Image: 44” x 30” (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 55 1/2" x 38 3/4" x 3 1/2" (141 x 98.5 x 9 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

From the series Kesh Angels Gypzee Bikin’, 2018/1440 (Gregorian/Hijri) Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Poplar Sprayed-White Frame with Aicha Tomato Cans Image: 44" x 30" (112 x 76 cm) Framed: 52 3/8" x 37" x 2 1/2" (133 x 94 x 6.5 cm) Signed, Titled, Dated and Numbered Verso in Ink Edition of 5 + 2 Artist’s Proofs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Hassan Hajjaj My Rockstars March 25 – May 15, 2021 Extended Hours on Opening Day: Thursday, March 25, 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM

Yossi Milo Gallery is pleased to present the New York premiere of Hassan Hajjaj's celebrated My Rockstars series featuring exuberant and playful mixed media portraits of performers, musicians and friends of the artist taken all over the world. My Rockstars will open on Thursday, March 25, with extended hours at the gallery until 8 PM, and remain on view through Saturday, May 15. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition at the gallery.

In his series My Rockstars, Hassan Hajjaj pays tribute to the individuals by whom he has been artistically inspired, capturing a range of international performers, from recording and visual artists such as Hank Willis Thomas, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Cardi B., to less known music bands like Arfoud Brothers and Nigerian singer-songwriter Keziah Jones. From the year 2000, Hajjaj has photographed these figures in colorful pop-up studios constructed from textiles and plastic mats typical of Morocco and North Africa, which he sets up in the streets of London, Marrakesh, Dubai, Kuwait and Paris. Outfits designed or styled by the artist, including custom suits, shoes and hats, pop with loud colors and dazzling patterns, empowering his subjects to explore larger-than-life personas before the camera. Each portrait is bordered with a custom handcrafted frame outfitted with miniature shelves and actual consumer products, such as cans of tomato sauce, car paint tins and soda cans, often with Arabic logos. The products are chosen for their origins, names, content as well as colors and aesthetics. The uninterrupted border of commercial packaging and corporate logos mimics with irreverent Warholian flare the repetitive motifs framing traditional Islamic mosaics and offers clues about the subject of each photograph.

In the tradition of Africa’s past masters of studio photography such as Samuel Fosso (Cameroonian, b. 1962), Malick Sidibé (Malian, 1935 – 2016) and Sanlé Sory (Burkinabe, b. 1943), Hajjaj explores portraiture to express evolving notions of self and society in today’s globalized, modern world. In the space of the studio, Hajjaj captures the international nature of popular culture, fashion and music today.

A site-specific installation, Le Salon, will also be presented in the gallery’s viewing room featuring custom- made furniture and interior design elements meant to encourage the local exchange of ideas, just as the larger show celebrates cultural exchange and hybridity across the global stage. Also on view will be a one- channel video installation presenting performances by select members of Hajjaj’s ensemble of “rockstars”, alongside “cabinet” pieces showcasing shelves of the hand-crocheted hats and socks that the artist sources from his local Marrakesh souk or other markets around the world.

A solo exhibition of Hajjaj's VOGUE, The Arab Issue will be concurrently on view at Fotografiska New York. Hajjaj’s works are represented in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, New York; Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art; Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Farjam Collection, Dubai; Institut des Cultures d’Islam, Paris; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis; Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome; Musée d’Art Contemporain Africain Al Maaden, Marrakesh; and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, among others. Hajjaj was born in 1961, in Larache, Morocco, and currently lives and works between London and Marrakesh.

For more information, please contact Alissa Schoenfeld at 212.414.0370 or [email protected], or visit the gallery's website at www.yossimilo.com

Image: Sarah Perles Gazin', 2015 / 1436 (Gregorian/Hijri). Metallic Lambda on Kodak Paper on 3mm Dibond in a Wood Sprayed-White Frame with Red Tomato Squeezies. 53 1/8" x 71" x 4 1/2"

H A S S A N H A J J A J b. 1961, Larache, Morocco; lives and works between London, England and Marrakesh, Morocco

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2021 My Rockstars, Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, NY VOGUE, The Arab Issue, Fotografiska, New York, NY 2020 Hassan Hajjaj: A Taste of Things to Come, Barakat Contemporary, Seoul, South Korea Hassan Hajjaj: The Path, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK VOGUE, The Arab Issue, Fotografiska, Stockholm, Sweden 2019 Carte Blanche à Hassan Hajjaj, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France Hassan Hajjaj: From the Streets of Marrakech to the Heart of Abu Dhabi, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE Hassan Hajjaj: The Path, New Art Exchange, Nottingham, UK 2017 My Maroc Stars, L’Atelier 21, Casablanca, Morocco Noss Noss, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia La Salle de Gym des Femmes Arabes, Al Riwaq Art Space, Manama, Bahrain La Caravane, Somerset House, London, UK 2016 My Rock Stars Vol.1, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN Colors of Gnaoua, Borj Bab Marrakesh, Essaouira, Morocco La Salle de Gym des Femmes Arabes, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE Karima: A Day in the Life of a Henna Girl, British Museum, London, UK Stylin’, Colette Art Gallery, Paris, France 2015 My Rock Stars Vol. 1, Newark Museum, Newark, NJ; Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA Karima: A Day in the Life of a Henna Girl, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Art Basel’s Film sector, Basel, Switzerland; A Shaded View On Fashion Film, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France 2014 Kesh Angels, Taymour Grahne Gallery, New York, NY My Rock Stars: Volume 2, Gusford Gallery Los Angeles, CA 2013 My Rock Stars: Experimental, Volume 1, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA My Rock Stars: Volume 1, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE Vogue: The Arab Issue, Aria Art Gallery, Florence, Italy 2012 My Rockstars: Volume 1, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE Mi Casa es tu Casa, Marrakesh Biennale 4, Marrakesh, Morocco 2011 Marque Deposée, Matisse Gallery, Marrakesh, Morocco Mi Casa es tu Casa, Matisse Gallery, Marrakesh, Morocco 2010 Kesh Angels, Rose Issa Projects, London, UK My Beautiful Rubbish, Freies Museum, Berlin, Germany 2009 1430 in Casa, Matisse Gallery, Casablanca, Morocco Dakka Marrakesh, 8th Bamako Encounters African Photography Biennial, Bamako, Mali ‘Le Salon’, The Chapter Gallery, Cardiff, UK 2008 Dakka Marrakesh, Rose Issa Projects at Leighton House Museum, London, UK Noss Noss: Photographic Works and Other Moroccan Stories, The Third Line, Doha, Qatar 2007 Noss Noss: Photographic Works and Other Moroccan Stories, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2020 Five Artists, Five Mediums, Five Days, curated by Paul Laster, Intersect Aspen Online Exhibition CONTACT HIGH: A Visual History of Hip-Hop, International Center of Photography, New York, NY Between the Sun and Moon, Lahore Biennale, Lahore, Pakistan 2019 African Spirits, Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, NY Get Up, Stand Up: Generations of Black Creative Pioneers, Somerset House, London, UK The Space of the Image – MAXXI Collection 2018-2019, MAXXI, Rome, Italy Styles of Resistance: From the Corner to the Catwalk, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan

Arts, Brooklyn, NY 2018 Contemporary Muslim Fashions, De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA African Metropolis: An Imaginary City, MAXXI, Rome, Italy Talisman in the Age of Difference, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK Hyper Real, The Arts Club, London, UK Al Musiqa, Philarmonie de Paris, Paris, France Un Oeil Ouvert Sur Le Monde Arabe, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France Pop Stars! Popular Culture and Contemporary Art, 21c Museum, Oklahoma City, OK Mi Casa Su Casa, curated by HASSAN HAJJAJ, Comptoir des Mines, Marrakesh, Morocco 2017 The Royal Academy of Arts - Summer Exhibition, London, UK Treasures of Islam in Africa: From Timbuktu to Zanzibar, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France Africa Pop Studio, The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY Afriques Capitales, Gare Saint Sauveur, Lille, France Afriques Capitales, as part of 100% Afriques, La Villette, Paris, France African-Print Fashion Now!, Fowler Museum, UCLA campus, Los Angeles, CA 2016 Made you Look: Dandyism and Black Masculinity, The Photographers’ Gallery, London, UK Fashion Cities Africa, Brighton Museum, Brighton, UK Making & Unmaking, Camden Art Centre, London, UK Islamic Art Now: Contemporary Art of the Middle East – part 2, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA 2015 Islamic Art Now: Contemporary Art of the Middle East, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA Making Africa - A Continent of Contemporary Design, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany; Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spain Reality of My Surroundings, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC ZieZo Marokko, Tropenmuseum Junior, Amsterdam, Netherlands Arts & Food, La Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy A Curious Blindness, Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, NY View from Inside: Contemporary Arab Photography, Video and Mixed Media Art, Abu Dhabi Festival, Abu Dhabi, UAE 2014 The Future of Fashion is Now, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands Addis Fotofest, Photography Biennale, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Staging Reality, Lagos Photo Fest, Lagos, Nigeria Special Flag, L’Atelier 21, Casablanca, Morocco True to Life? - New Photography from the Middle East, Birmingham Museum, Birmingham, UK Fluid Form II, NEMO Blue Square and Busan Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea 10 photographes contemporains marocains, Fondation Mohammed VI de Promotion des oeuvres Sociales de l’Education, Rabat, Morocco Fútbol: The Beautiful Game, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA 2013 Beyond the Cloth: The Kafiye Project, WhiteBox Projects, New York, NY Au Bazar du Genre, MUCEM (Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée), Marseille, France Chaos into Clarity: Re-Possessing a Funktioning Utopia, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE 10 photographes contemporains marocains, MMPVA (Marrakesh Museum for Photography and Visual Arts), Marrakesh, Morocco 2012 Light from the Middle East, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK Re-Orientations, Rose Issa Projects, London, UK #ComeTogether, Edge of Arabia, London, UK Aurs Al Arab, OltreDimore Gallery, Bologna, Italy Between Walls, Matisse Gallery, Rabat, Morocco Aurs Al Arab, OltreDimore Gallery, Florence, Italy 2011 How I Learned to Stop Fearing and Love Exotic Art, JAMM Art, Kuwait City, Kuwait Photoquai, Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France Africa: See You, See Me, Museu Da Cidade, Lisboa, Portugal & Fondazione Studio Maragoni, Firenze, Italy

Play Ground, New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, UK ‘Le Salon’ for the Jameel Prize, La Villa des Arts, Casablanca, Morocco 2010 ‘Le Salon’ for the Jameel Prize [traveling exhibition], Sakip Sabanci Museum, Istanbul, Turkey; Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation, Sharjah, UAE; National Museum, Beiteddine Palace, Beiteddine, Lebanon & National Museum, Damascus, Syria; National Museum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ARABICITY, Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, Lebanon 2009 ‘Le Salon’ for the Jameel Prize, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK Icons Reloaded, Elysee Arts Gallery, Liege, Belgium Re-Orientations, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium 2008 Reuse 2.0, El boutique at Lothan Exhibition Space, Kuwait City, Kuwait Mediterraneo: A Sea that Unites, Italian Institute, London 2007 Social System, Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, Penzance, UK 2005 Contemporary African Visual Arts, Painting & Furniture, British Museum, London, UK Fashion in Motion: Africa, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK Africa Remix, Hayward Gallery, London, UK 2004 Black British Style, clothing from 1950s till now, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

SELECTED DISTINCTION, PRIZES AND AWARDS 2016 Officer of the Wissam Al Moukafaa Al Wataniya order 2014 Certificate of Recognition for ‘My Rock Stars: Experimental Vol. 1’ from the City of Los Angeles 2014 Pulse Art Fair Prize (Winner) 2011 Sovereign African Art Prize (Winner) 2009 Jameel Prize, Victoria and Albert Museum (Shortlisted)

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Barjeel Collection, Sharjah, UAE Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY Farjam Collection, Dubai, UAE Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE Institut des Cultures d’Islam, Paris, France Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis, Tunisia Musée d’Art Contemporain Africain Al Maaden, Marrakesh, Morocco Museum of Arts of the XXI Century Museum, Rome, Italy Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC Newark Museum, Newark, NJ National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA Wedge Collection, Wedge Curatorial Projects, Toronto, Canada

BIBLIOGRAPHY 2021 Eshun, Ekow. “Meet the motley crew of rock stars representing Hassan Hajjaj’s London calling.” Sleek 19 February 2021 2020 Highet, Juliet. “Hassan Hajjaj's Hot Remix.” AramcoWorld April 2020 Ayad, Myrna. “Hassan Hajjaj Welcomes the World into His Playful Pop Kingdom Created in Morocco.” Vogue Arabia 30 March 2020 Jansen, Charlotte. “Inside Hassan Hajjaj’s Riad in the Heart of Marrakech.” Elephant 13 March 2020 2019 Golden, Lisa. “Hassan Hajjaj photo retrospective rocks Paris.” The Daily Star Lebanon 14 November 2019 Toodehfallah, Anahita. “The Prismatic, Kitsch, and Glam World of Hassan Hajjaj.” Hyperallergic 25 October 2019 Mitter, Siddhartha. “Hassan Hajjaj Turns Moroccan Clichés Into London Cool.” The New York Times 9 October 2019

Sansom, Anna. “Maison Marocaine: Hassan Hajjaj’s first solo retrospective.” British Journal of Photography 7 October 2019 “Morocco a-go-go: the eye-popping visions of Hassan Hajjaj – in pictures.” The Guardian 25 September 2019 Fouchet, Jeanne. “Hassan Hajjaj, le pop art de Marrakesh à la Maison européenne de la photographie.” Connaissance des Arts 12 September 2019 Bindé, Joséphine. “Le Maroc pop d’Hassan Hajjaj.” BeauxArts 11 September 2019 Akel, Joseph. “African Spirits.” Artforum July 2019 Weber, Jasmine. “The Tantalizing Photographic Figure at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair.” Hyperallergic 3 May 2019 McLaughlin, Aimée. “New Hassan Hajjaj exhibition is a colourful clash of cultures.” Creative Review 3 April 2019 “Hassan Hajjaj.” We the Outliers 24 January 2019 2018 Guillot, Claire. “The European House of Photography Aims Young and Far.” Le Monde 11 October 2018 Stone, Bryony. “‘The work is for the people’: Hassan Hajjaj's journey from Marrakech to Madonna.” It’s Nice That 8 October 2018 Proctor, Rebecca Anne. “African Metropolis Presents the Complex Metropolis Structure Through an Urban Lens.” Harper's Bazaar Arabia 23 September 2018 Berning Sawa, Dale. “Hassan Hajjaj’s best photograph: Kesh Angels, girl biker gang of Morocco.” The Guardian 23 May 2018 2017 Hammoudi, Jazia. “Meet Hassan Hajjaj, the ‘Warhol of Marrakech’ Who Shot Hip-Hop Star Cardi B. for New York Mag.” Artnet News 24 November 2017 Macdonald, Fleur. “Hassan Hajjaj Make Marrakesh Go Pop.” The Economist 25 October 2017 Hirschfeld, Javier. “Hassan Hajjaj’s Vibrant Photographs are a Riot of Colour.” BBC Culture 18 October 2017 Mostert, Caroline. “London Sets the Stage for Contemporary African Art.” Sotheby’s 5 October 2017 MacDonald, Fleur. “Hassan Hajjaj Makes Marrakesh go Pop.” 1843 Magazine October 2017 Kane, Ashleigh. “Meet Hassan Hajjaj, the ‘Andy Warhol of Marrakesh.’” Dazed 30 January 2017 2016 Smets, Jenny. “Black dandies: met elegantie vooroordelen te lijf.“ Vrij Nederland 15 December 2016 Moroz, Sarah. “The Photographer Remixing Louis Vuitton With Traditional African Garb.” i-D 14 July 2016 2015 Cotter, Holland. “Review: ‘A Curious Blindness’ at Wallach Art Gallery.” The New York Times 7 May 2015 2014 Rao, Mallika. “These Portraits of Moroccan Hipsters Are More Nuanced Than They Look.” The Huffington Post Arts & Culture 12 September 2014 Fite, Jenna. “My Rock Stars Experimental: Hassan Hajjaj Creates a Global Stage.” National Geographic 2 September 2014 Smith, Roberta. “Hassan Hajjaj: ‘Kesh Angels.’” The New York Times 27 February 2014 “Kesh Angels, les motardes voilées de Hassan Hajjaj.” Les Inrockuptibles February 2014 Scarborough, James. “Hassan Hajjaj: My Rock Stars: Volume 2, Gusford Gallery, Los Angeles.” Huffington Post 10 January 2014 2013 Hajjaj, Hassan. Photography, Fashion, Film, Design Rose Issa Projects and Taymour Grahne Gallery, London, 2013 [book] 2012 “Hassan Hajjaj, photographe designer.” RTBF.be 2 October 2012 2008 Hajjaj, Hassan. Dakka Marrakesh

Hassan Hajjaj Turns Moroccan Clichés Into London Cool

His photographs, enlivened by friends, subversive wit and a hip-hop swagger, are on show in a major retrospective in Paris.

By Siddhartha Mitter | Oct. 9, 2019

LONDON — Hassan Hajjaj was in his element. On a recent afternoon, friends and strangers wandered into the Moroccan-born British photographer’s shop in the Shoreditch district here, clustering amid the joyous mess. There were stacks of multicolored T-shirts, racks of sweatshirts and djellabas, and piles of slippers with mock sports-brand insignia. Grocery-store cans and boxes marked in Arabic script served as decoration and furniture. Crowding the walls were vintage advertising posters — and of course Mr. Hajjaj’s own photographs. In his instantly recognizable style of portraiture, he styles his subjects in a kind of faux-orientalist swag, using items like the ones in the shop as props. In fact, he makes portraits right here, on the street, taping onto the brick wall his flamboyant backdrops, and shooting in full view of passers-by. “There are two kinds of artist,” Mr. Hajjaj said in the shop’s back area, with its banquettes made of Moroccan Coca- Cola crates topped with flower-print cushions. “There’s the artist that needs space, to be on their own to work, and there’s somebody like myself.” He scanned the scene. “There’s always an ambience.” This fall, Mr. Hajjaj has brought the vibes to Paris, where a retrospective of his work is taking over the entire Maison Européenne de la Photographie, the photography museum. The city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, attended the opening, which included Moroccan Gnawa musicians performing with Yasiin Bey, the rapper once known as Mos Def. Mr. Hajjaj, who spent childhood in Larache, a fishing town, and now has a riad in Marrakesh as well as a home in London, has become Morocco’s most visible artist. He shoots his friends, many of them working-class, such as the “henna girls” who adorn tourists in the Jemaa el Fna square in Marrakesh. He hires tailors and artisans to run up outfits for his subjects. And recently, he organized a salon there, where he showed works by less well known Moroccan photographers. But he is even more a creature of London. Mr. Hajjaj arrived here in 1973 at age 12, with his mother and siblings, joining his father, a laborer who could not read or write. After dropping out of high school, he landed in the precarious economy of the early Thatcher years.

Selling flowers in Camden Market, then clothes, while also promoting underground club nights and working on film shoots and fashion shows, Mr. Hajjaj became a utility player in the emerging London bohemia of immigrants’ children, fed on reggae and pirate radio, that produced bands like Young Disciples and Soul II Soul. His clothing label, R.A.P., sold streetwear before that was a fashion category. His Covent Garden shop was a central-city hangout and haven from the ambient racism and class hierarchies of the time. “In the ’80s you have to remember that London was just starting to blend,” Mr. Hajjaj said, in the North London accent he acquired on arrival. “We all came from different backgrounds. We had to create something to find our space.” Simon Baker, the director of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie — and a former Londoner himself, previously curator of photography at Tate Modern — said that Mr. Hajjaj was a quintessential Black British artist, in the expansive usage of that time. The retrospective, Mr. Baker said, “tells the story of someone with London street knowledge, network, and background, but who is also very passionate about where he came from.” Yet it took many years for Mr. Hajjaj to think of himself as an artist. “I didn’t think I was worthy,” he said. “I had all these friends who studied art, music, fashion, who prepared themselves, who were technically very good. I just took pictures. It was more to hang out with people, to listen to music and create a mood.” By the time he started showing his photography, in the mid-1990s, he had reconnected with Morocco, following a trip in 1993 to take his daughter to meet her relatives. Even among the London set, Morocco evoked tedious stereotypes — “caftans, hashish, camels,” Mr. Hajjaj said — that irritated him. What he found was the place he remembered, at once ordinary, with its canned goods and fast fashions, and vibrant according to its own cultural mélange. “I wanted to show my friends that we have something cool,” he said. “And that I suppose is what started me entering the art world.” The Paris exhibition presents Mr. Hajjaj’s work organized in six series of large-format prints, many in custom frames, inset with items like cans of tomato sauce or motor oil, or children’s building blocks marked with Arabic letters. The galleries are decorated with wallpaper he has designed, and seating areas have been converted with his furnishings. Several video works are on view. One photo series is his famous “Kesh Angels,” in which women in gowns and face veils pose on motorbikes. They are glammed up, yet authentic. These are workers in Marrakesh tourist economy whom Mr. Hajjaj has known and photographed for years, and who use the bikes to get around town. Mr. Hajjaj’s stylings — mixing camouflage, polka-dot, or animal prints with traditional fabrics from the souk; adding cheap plastic sunglasses shaped like hearts; printing Louis Vuitton logos onto the motorbike body — bring a sense of play that melds Moroccan heritage with a patchwork hip-hop swagger. Rather than launch a polemic against the tourist gaze that fetishizes veiled women on motorbikes, Mr. Hajjaj drowns it out with maximalist compositions that mash up references, disorganize expectations, and seize control. “It’s about taking this orientalism vibe and saying, ‘O.K., let’s take ownership of it,’” Mr. Hajjaj said. “Me being Moroccan, you being a Moroccan subject, let’s take that kind of thing, and do it in our way.”

The same method applies to other series by Mr. Hajjaj: “Gnawi Riders,” a male counterpart to “Kesh Angels,” with Gnawa musicians; the “Dakka Marrakchia” headshots of women; and “Vogue: The Arab Issue,” styled like fashion spreads. All use clothes and accessories sourced from the local market, to reclaim control: not just cultural, but also economic, and ultimately, psychological. Mr. Hajjaj’s work gets linked to Pop Art, with comparisons to Andy Warhol that he subverts in his clothing line “Andy Wahloo,” which translates to “I have nothing” in Arabic. But he is equally inspired by photography studios of smalltown 1960s Morocco, where families went for special occasions. The classic studio work of Seydou Keïta, Sory Sanlé and Malick Sidibé — one of his idols — is another clear reference. “I always think that Hassan’s work looks as if someone electrocuted with color an African studio,” Mr. Baker said, alluding to that tradition. “Which of course would have been full of color, but the pictures we have from them are black-and-white.” One room in the show presents, for the first time, Mr. Hajjaj’s own black-and- whites. “That’s to show the journey, and my love of photography,” Mr. Hajjaj said. But Mr. Hajjaj’s biggest love is for his subjects. It shines in the ease that pervades his portraits, even when the staging is ornate. He mostly photographs people he has formed a connection with — friends, friends of friends, colleagues — and the affinity shows. “He loves the people around him, and that is a very endearing thing about Hassan,” said Touria El Glaoui, founder of the 1-54 African Contemporary Art fair, who organized Mr. Hajjaj’s last major solo show, at Somerset House in London, in 2017. “He has built this community and kept it over the years. And what’s amazing is that he hasn’t changed a bit.” The ongoing series “My Rock Stars” is Mr. Hajjaj’s homage to his cosmopolitan crowd. (A sampler: the American artist Hank Willis Thomas; the Moroccan filmmaker Meryem Benm’Barek; the French-Algerian musician Rachid Taha, who died last year.) Some are famous, but styled by Mr. Hajjaj, seen through his lens, they would be special regardless. In the Shoreditch shop, the grime M.C. Afrikan Boy, the Gnawa drummer Simo Lagnawi and the soul singer Bumi drifted in to rehearse. Mr. Hajjaj was developing a multimedia stage show, “My Rock Stars Experimental,” with video projections and live performance by musicians styled in his outfits. (It premieres on Oct. 11 in Los Angeles.) He put on a fresh pot of coffee and said to stick around. “I’ve got my friends hanging with me on the wall,” he said. “They’re traveling with me. So there’s this protection, there’s a comfort for me.”

Hassan Hajjaj Through Nov. 17 at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris; mep-fr.org.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/09/arts/hassan-hajjaj.html

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Arts-and-Ent/Culture/2019/Nov-14/495529-hassan-hajjaj-photo-retrospective-rocks-paris.ashx

FLEUR MACDONALD | OCTOBER 25TH 2017

Va va vroom “Gang of Marrakesh” from “Kesh Angels”

Born in Morocco and raised in Britain, Hassan Hajjaj, a London-based photographer and furniture designer, wears his influences on his Ankara-print sleeve: the Maghreb mingles with London street style, hip hop with haute couture, religious tradition with modern consumerism. The riotously fun “La Caravane”, his first show in Britain in seven years and the flagship exhibition of the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair at Somerset House in London, fuses global pop culture with Islamic aesthetics. Though “La Caravane” is a small show, featuring photographs, sculptures and video work from only two series, it’s enough to give a flavour of his work. “Kesh Angels” (2014) – the reference is to Hell’s, not Charlie – captures the women who zip through the technicoloured warrens of the bazaars in Marrakesh on their motorbikes. “My Rock Stars: Caribbean and Africa. The symmetrical patterns found in the borders and backgrounds of these portraits are a modern spin on the traditional geometric designs of Islamic art. Their wooden frames, which double as shelves, invoke a very different period. They contain brightly packaged household products like stock cubes and fizzy drinks cans. It’s a tip of the hat to Andy Warhol, but while both artists put ordinary, everyday objects on the pedestal, there is nothing of Warhol’s cynicism in Hajjaj’s work. His art celebrates everyday life, and the talented artists who deserve more than 15 minutes of fame.

Hajjaj filmed these women for his documentary “Karima", which premiered in 2015 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. As they speed to their next appointment in hi-viz hijabs and designer djellabas (you won’t see any black burqas here), these girl-biker gangs evoke comic- book superheroes. Of course, they’re not really gangsters. These women, many of whom are Hajjaj’s friends, earn their living as henna-tattoo artists and they drive to work every morning on their motorbikes. The colours, patterns and shapes of their outfits, which Hajjaj designed, reflect the vibrancy of North Africa and the influence of globalisation – some wear Nike headscarves and Louis Vuitton slippers. These photographs update the stereotypical image of Arab women handed down to Westerners by painters like Delacroix and Matisse, whose canvases are full of nudes reclining in harems or boudoirs. These images seem to say: why bother with a perfumed eunuch or a masticating camel when you can ride a monogrammed moped?

Hajjaj was inspired to start photographing Moroccan women after noticing, on a fashion shoot in Morocco, that all the models were foreign. But his subjects aren’t local models; they’re real women whose kohl is sometimes smudged and whose skin isn’t flawless. Hajjaj aims to challenge the Western ideal of beauty.

The nine works in “My Rock Stars” appear to be photographs, but as the artists stand up to perform one by one you realise you are looking at screens. Video art is rarely as compelling as these MTV-worthy performances. When Afrikan Boy, a British-Nigerian artist who, like Hajjaj, revels in his dual identity, starts to rap, the others look sideways at him and nod or sway to the rhythm. In a thick Nigerian accent, he delivers lines from his 2013 song “Hit Em Up”: “When I was younger they said I was fat, I stopped learning how to swim just because of that.” He’s mocking the stereotype of the African who is skeletally thin, and can’t swim.

Hajjaj’s stripey backgrounds and fierce poses recall Malick Sidibé, another African photographer whose work was exhibited at 1:54 Art Fair last year. But Hajjaj’s backdrops are more reminiscent of market stalls than the studio, and he doesn’t have to work as hard as Sidibé to coax charisma from his subjects – they are all performers, and he photographs them from below as if he were shooting covers for old-school hip-hop albums. Hindi is a Franco- Moroccan singer, who like Hajjaj, is self-taught. She wears a man’s suit jacket made from wax fabric, cinched behind her back; a cigarette dangles from one hand. Though her pose is exuberant, the song she sings in the video is melancholy.

Hajjaj transforms the objects in his portraits into works of art. A customised moped dominates the first room and there are framed accessories in the last. These artfully arranged sunglasses show how Hajjaj finds value in the everyday. As debate rages over what constitutes cultural appropriation, Hassan Hajjaj champions cultural appreciation.“La Caravane” is a travelling bazaar, a gleeful reflection on the creativity that occurs when different cultures cross borders.

th Hassan Hajjaj: La Caravane Somerset House, London, until January 7

Fleur Macdonald is features editor of TRUE Africa, a website that looks at culture, music, sport and politics from an African perspective

https://www.1843magazine.com/culture/look-closer/hassan-hajjaj-makes-marrakesh-go-pop

Hassan Hajjaj’s Vibrant Photographs are a Riot of Colour

By Javier Hirschfeld on October 18, 2017

La Caravane is a new exhibition of Hassan Hajjaj’s photography at London’s Somerset House, that includes works from his 20-year career. Javier Hirschfeld meets the artist.

London calling: Born in 1961 in Larache, Morocco, Hassan Hajjaj moved to London with his family when he was 13. Leaving school at 15, he found himself at the centre of the capital’s legendary 1980s club scene. He turned his attention to design and began to work with artists, musicians and DJs, organising underground parties and launching a fashion label. Hajjaj has created a brightly colourful and personal visual universe inspired by both his London life and his childhood memories.

Labour of love: Hajjaj drew inspiration from the traditional photography studios families would visit in 1960s Morocco, from visually stunning Indian film posters, and from the fashion and abstract photographers he found in London. “It was really just a labour of love… it wasn’t something I was planning to use for work or to become an artist. I took pictures of my friends, my cousins and a couple of characters I found interesting. I wasn’t shooting regularly, it was now and then, and then the passion of it just took over."

Culture clash: Hajjaj saw an opportunity to bring together two very different cultures through his images. “In the 70s when I came to London and said I came from Morocco they always made fun and said ‘ah Sahara sand, hashish, mint tea...’” he reveals. “I wanted to try to show that we have a culture that has a difference, that there’s a lot of depth, that there’s stuff beneath the caricature of the countries." The first body of work Hajjaj exhibited focused on Arabic products, combining them in his images with Western brands like Fanta, Coca Cola, Louis Vuitton and Nike. “It was about showing graphics from the Arab world that I got influenced by, graffiti artists, graphic designers,” he says. “In Arab countries there’s going to be brands from the West that are written in Arabic, but you would immediately recognise if it’s Coca Cola or Pepsi. So I played on this to take people on a journey to local products.” A global Arab artist: Hajjaj’s work is now collected by institutions such as the Victoria and Albert and British museums as well as proving hugely popular online. “My early shows were different - I’m talking almost 20 years ago - being under the banner of ‘Arab artist’ or ‘Muslim artist’… I felt I was on my own in a way,” Hajjaj explains. “I had this new audience, very positive, lots of things going viral on the internet. And it made me realise that prior to that, I had really strong support from my culture, right across the Middle East, even the Arab kids that lived in Europe, because the internet helped to expose my work. I realised from emails I got that I was doing something positive for the culture.” “I was very happy because it's almost as if I got a tick from my background. I would have been very sad if I got success in America and nobody in my culture had known my work.” Kesh Angels: "Kesh is short for Marrakech." The city of Marrakech inspired Hajjaj’s project Kesh Angels, “because it is a city full of bikes, probably like Rome, because of the architecture of the city,” he says. “It´s probably the only city in Morocco that's actually using bikes and everybody uses them, from young, old, male, female, traditional, modern. I took this idea that was happening there and highlighted it and added my fingerprints,” Hajjaj says, who started work on the project in 1997. “Luckily they were friends, and it was about trust. So there are some images that are 100 per cent what they are wearing, I might add some glasses or some socks or something and then I try to set up and get them to pose… it's about people.” The bright stuff: For Hajjaj, leaving Morocco’s vibrant colours, “was almost like going to black-and-white movies, and somehow in my work I must have gone back subconsciously to where I’m coming from,” he explains. “I always liked black- and-white pictures, I almost preferred it. But colour came naturally when I looked around me for stuff to shoot, in the medina or the souk when I’m in Morocco, or Brick Lane or Portobello in London." My Rock Stars: My Rock Stars is Hajjaj’s most recent project, which looks back to his days in 1980s London. “I [had] this ton of people who are underdogs, they are not mainstream, so I thought why not start documenting them, doing it in my style where I am trying to make something out of nothing, trying to have this cheap textile, cheap stuff and make it look grand, something that could be from the past or the future.” The sound of music: "Growing up in Morocco there’s always music around, but then there was Indian music, Italian [and] Arabic Egyptian, so I had all this influence. Coming to England it was discovering all these new sounds by different people from all parts of the world. I discovered Soul, Reggae, Jazz, Funk. There was music around me all the time. My friends were musicians and I was probably the frustrated musician.”

My Rock Stars Experimental, volume 1 is Hajjaj's first series of video portraits. Old masters: Hajjaj’s work follows the tradition of West African studio photography. "When I started doing the studio shoots, obviously, I had in mind Malick Sidibé, Samuel Fosso… they were the photographers of the city. I realised those photographers documented those cities at that point of time. Then I thought to myself, ‘I am somebody from this city but I’ve been moved to the UK and all these friends of mine are also being moved like myself’. That's why I call it ‘documenting’ because it's that moment of me being with them and also who they are because they have inspired me, influenced me in my work as well as my life.” Picture perfect: Although Hajjaj had been consistently shooting portraits for five years (mainly for himself), he was uncertain about showing his portraits to the public. “I showed my first body of work with all the products in 1993, and then I did my first shows in the late 90s. But then when I started taking pictures of friends I thought it was more personal, I just didn’t want to show it anywhere. So I felt I had to protect it for some reason. I didn’t know why,” he says. It was after showing those portraits to curator Rose Issa that they decided to do a show in 2007. Rose Issa loved the work and asked him to print one of them to show to a client. Hassan printed two, framing one in a traditional way, leaving himself the other to experiment with: “I thought ‘I am still young enough to have fun with it, to look for products, to communicate with people,’” he says. “I started playing with that notion, because I was already using products within my pictures. The idea was, using this to attract people without realising that I am using the repeated patterns that we have in Morocco. All that came out that [ended up] giving a style, easy to read from young kids to somebody older.”

"When you see Malick Sidibé you see a time, you see the 1950s or 60s. In my pictures I want to confuse people because it could be the past… there’s no date on them in a kind of way. The idea is documenting these friends who had been scattered around along the globe like myself. Malick Sidibé had his journey and hopefully I’m having my journey in my own way."

http://www.bbc.com/culture/gallery/20171017-hassan-hajjajs-technicolor-journey