Hamid Zénati. All-Over is the first institutional exhibition dedicated to the work of the artist Hamid Zénati (b. 1944 Constantine, Algeria; d. 2022 Munich, Germany). Travelling between Munich and Algiers, Zénati’s artistic practice ranged from painting, textiles, interior and fashion design, to photography, always driven by an anarchic impetus to create. The presentation features work from an almost six-decade-long career and provides insight into the artist’s distinct cosmos for the first time.

The selection of works in the exhibition focuses on the artist’s unique formal language developed in his textiles; it also presents objects that function as keys to access Zénati’s visual cosmos, as well as a selection from his photographic archive that highlights the artist’s joy in experimentation, which will be accessible both in the exhibition space and online. The show’s title, “All-Over”, is derived from a term often used by the artist himself to describe his approach to textile design. While an art-historical link to all-over painting is implied (and thereby the lack of a dominant focal point or main motif, of a spatial effect or an indication for the image orientation, and the possibility to continue beyond the edge itself), “all-over” more importantly hints at the artist’s free and obsessive practice, painting on everything and taking in various cultural inspirations.

Zénati’s work is characterized by the sheer inexhaustible abundance of forms, patterns and the combination of colours, materials and techniques. As a self-taught artist, Zénati created his powerful yet playful compositions without conceding to predetermined hierarchies or value systems. He drew upon and incorporated everything that crossed his path and triggered his imagination. Mostly unknown, leading a diasporic life in precarious conditions, yet a keen observer of social, cultural and artistic movements, Zénati developed a unique perspective that challenges the established boundaries between styles, genres, as well as fine and applied arts. He worked with a striking variety of unique, playful and exquisite textile paintings, self-made fashion, murals, ceramics, furniture and photography.

Curated by Anna Schneider.

Hamid Zénati was born in Constantine, Algeria, in 1944. He studied photography in Munich at the former Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie, 1971– 73. He began his career as a translator and self-taught artist in Algiers in the 1970s. Due to the challenging socio-political conditions Zénati faced both in Europe and in his home country, he lived between Germany and Algeria for many years. During his six-decade career, he produced over 1000 artworks. Zénati passed away in Munich, Germany, in 2022.