Lot 12 – Imed Jemaiel, Untitled

LOT 12
IMED JEMAIEL (TUNISIAN B.1965)
UNTITLED

signed and dated JemaiL / 2023 lower right; inscribed And the god saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth in Arabic lower left
acrylic and gold leaf on canvas
207.5 x 152.6cm; 81 3/4 x 60in
unframed
Executed in 2023

Property of a Private Collector, UAE

Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

Estimate
£20,000 – £25,000
Buyer’s premium: 25.00% + VAT

Born in Bizerte, Imed Jemaiel lives and works in Tunis and has taught at the School of Fine Arts of Tunis since 1992.
Rejecting the rigid didacticism of the blackboard for the expansive potential of the window, Jemaiel’s work is rooted in a lifelong defiance of academic boundaries. Since his formative transition from the medical sciences to the Institute of Fine Arts in Tunis in 1986, his practice has evolved into a rigorous interrogation of the Dadaist legacy.

By deconstructing the secular traditions of engraving, he subjects the medium to a process of radical hybridisation, a synthesis of figure, trace, and texture. His compositions function as temporal palimpsests where the “playful instinct” collides with theoretical precision. In his recent cycles, such as Archipelagos of Ink, the artist cultivates a world of “maculed conceptions” where fauna and flora emerge from the interstices of a handwritten script. The inscription on the present work is taken from Genesis 6:5 in the Bible, initiating the narrative of Noah and the Flood, alluding to a world perpetually on the verge of being given a deeper, visual promise, yet hauntingly withheld.

Jemaiel’s early international exposure began in France, and he has since held several notable solo and group exhibitions. His first two solo exhibitions in Europe took place at the Galerie Du Château de Servières in Marseille (1992 and 1993), where he began deconstructing traditional engraving techniques. He has held a series of significant solo shows in Tunis including Le dessous des ratures (The Underside of Erasures) in 2014, Maculée conception (Maculed Conception) in 2016 and Archipels d’encre (Archipelagos of Ink) in 2018.

Attracted by his ability to transform text into texture, Jemaiel’s work is sought after by both institutional and private collectors who focus on contemporary Arab art and the “Cultural Narratives” of the Maghreb and can be found in collections such as the Art Jameel Collection in Dubai and Jeddah; whilst his large-scale acrylic and gold leaf works on canvas are held in private collections across the Middle East, including notable acquisitions in Doha, Qatar, and throughout Tunisia.