Biography Charif Benhelima (Brussels, 1967)
Charif Benhelima lives and works in Antwerp and Berlin. His Polaroids and analog photography present highly personalized images that investigate notions of time, identity, memory/oblivion, document, and truth. Nominated for the Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography in 2008 (Harvard University/Peabody Museum), Benhelima’s diverse aesthetic, formal, and conceptual research nevertheless composes a coherent and singular oeuvre.
In 2005, Benhelima’s work was shown at Witte de With as part of the group exhibition Monopolis – Antwerp, organized in collaboration with three contemporary art centres in Antwerp: MuHKA, Extra City, and Objectif Exhibitions.
Solo exhibitions include Welcome to Belgium, Museum of Modern Art, Oostende (1999); Today’s Heroes, Flanders House, London (2003); I was, I am – 1999-2002, Gallery Kusseneers , Antwerp (2004); Semites, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (2005); Harlem on my mind, V-editie, Antwerp (2007); Roots I, Crown Gallery, Brussels (2008) and Roots II, The Bag Factory, Johannesburg (2009).
Selected group shows include Mimésis, Extra City – Center for Contemporary Art, Antwerp (2008); Nós, Museu da República, Rio de Janeiro (2008); A Story of the Image: Visual Art as Visual Culture, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singapore (2009); Fading, Musee d’Ixelles, Brussels (2009); and Belgian Spot, Centre for Culture and Contemporary Art, Bangkok (2010).