Hassan Hajjaj was born in Larache in 1961.
He moved between several artistic worlds: photography, fashion, music, cinema and design. In 1984, he launched his own clothing and accessories brand, “R.A.P.”, short for “Real Artistic People”. He also designed the “Andy Wahloo” restaurant in Paris, whose name is taken from a replica of the Maghrebian Arabic vernacular meaning “I've got nothing”, as a nod to Pop Art but with a Middle Eastern twist.
Hassan Hajjaj's work is a celebration of the popular visual culture of the souk, a social space symbolizing interaction and exchange. The artist borrows from Moroccan culture, using pictorial stereotypes such as odalisques or brand images with their cult logos. He boldly combines and contrasts Eastern and Western elements to create a rich, universal universe. The care taken by Hassan Hajjaj in framing his photographs is reminiscent of the degree of finish in the repetition of motifs in Islamic decorative art.
His work has been included in renowned collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (USA), the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (USA), the Institut des Cultures d'Islam in Paris (France), the Victoria and Albert Museum (UK), the Barjeel Collection (United Arab Emirates), the Brooklyn Museum (USA) and the Kamel Laazar Foundation (Tunisia).
Hassan Hajjaj lives between Marrakech and London.