Dhewadi Hadjab
Dhewadi Hadjab is an Algerian artist born in 1992 in M’Sila (Algeria). He was selected for the 2022 edition of the Reiffers Art Initiatives mentorship program. His practice combines painting and photography to explore the movement of bodies in space. He stages figures in uncomfortable postures, set against backgrounds with strict perspectives, creating unsettling and introspective atmospheres. The artist is exhibiting at the first show of the permanent collection of Reiffers Art Initiatives, “Les Apparitions.”
Exhibition view of "Les Apparitions"
Dhewadi Hadjab, 2025
Untitled, Reiffers Art Center, Paris
Dhewadi Hadjab, 2025
Exhibition view of "Les Apparitions"
Dhewadi Hadjab, 2025Biography
The works of Dhewadi Hadjab begin with photographs of models in highly constrained postures, which the artist transforms into original compositions.
A great admirer of the German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch, the artist is interested in dance and the pain of bodies in rehearsal, particularly in involuntary jerks and moments of failure. With meticulous realism, he highlights the moving body, balancing between figuration and sculpture, drawing inspiration from the lighting techniques of the Caravaggesque school. He also explores how the body seeks its place in symbolically enclosed spaces, questioning its adaptation to a constrained environment.
Hadjab's work goes beyond the mere representation of the body; it questions its psychology, particularly that of surrender and emptiness. His paintings, imbued with a sense of suspended time, invite one to transcend the sensory world through balance and grace.
Texts
"Dhewadi Hadjab, la peinture à bras-le-corps" Par Valérie Duponchelle - Le Figaro, 2022
Born in 1992 in M'Sila (Algeria), this young man, serious, focused, and humble, presented his paintings without emphasis, blending the beige and golden classicism of a Jacques-Louis David with the disjointed, heart-wrenching dance of Pina Bausch. His small studio was tidy, with his ongoing paintings leaning against the wall, without frames or captions. For the two very large pieces in progress on the ecstasy of prayer, intended for the Church of Saint-Eustache, near Les Halles, he had temporarily moved to a larger studio. This evident talent, this rare modesty, remain intact in a world that is easily tempted by showmanship.