MUSIC AND ART TALKING TOGETHER
Settling in Switzerland in 1972, after a few formative years as a self-made artist in Paris in the late sixties, Lagrouni has progressively created a unique visual language that evolved greatly over the years. By maintaining a truly Moroccan painterly identity while expanding on themes linked to the searching of one’s identity when living abroad – a recurring subject in the artistic creations of the diasporas – Lagrouni also allowed his talents as a pianist and percussionist to penetrate the canvas and orchestrate movements and compositions. Jazz music in particular can be seen as a major influence through many of his signature brushstrokes.
Exhibitions of Ali Lagrouni’s works truly started in the French speaking region of Switzerland in the second part of the 1980s (mostly in Geneva, Lausanne and Montreux), culminating with an exhibition at the United Nations in Geneva in 1988.
In the 90s, he regularly showed his work at Europ’Art (the former Geneva Art Fair), but had numerous shows in Switzerland, France and Morocco. He was the guest of honor for Morocco at the Art Basel Fair in 2002, exhibited his work at the Royal Academy of Arts (UK) in 2004 and won the 25th Prix de Rome the same year, only to return twenty years later with a new solo exhibition at the United Nations in 2008.