Khalid Nazroo L’ŒUVRE D’UNE VIE A crazy gamble. Khalid Nazroo uses light as his paint and his painting as an ode to light. “It’s colour that creates the movement and form, and makes them converse with one another.” No other artist has so enthusiastically greeted the day or waited so patiently for nightfall. Quel pari fou ! Khalid Nazroo a fait de la lumière sa peinture et de sa peinture une ode lumineuse. « C’est la couleur qui impose le mouvement et la forme, et les fait dialoguer entre eux. » Nul autre artiste n’aura salué aussi généreusement le jour, ni attendu aussi patiemment la venue de la nuit. BY VIRGINIE LUC PHOTOGRAPHS ANNE-EMMANUELLE THION A LIFE’S WORK Ever since he was a child, he’s been covering slates and blackboards with coloured chalk. Encouraged by his parents– his mother creates magnificent tapestries – and his teachers, Khalid Nazroo chose the City of Light in 1974: Paris. He received a French scholarship to attend the Academy of Fine Arts – where he graduated top of his class. Eager for knowledge, he learnt all the techniques he possibly could – lithography, lino cutting, drawing, sculpture, painting, ceramics, stained glass – using all the materials – pastel, gouache, oils, charcoal and red chalk. Whenever he wasn’t at the Academy, he insatiably absorbed all he could in museums, galleries and libraries. Like him, Paris was buzzing with artistic energy, as this was the time that the incredible Georges Pompidou Centre was being built (1977). “I’m from the Beaubourg generation,” Khalid still says with wonder. COLOURFUL HORIZONS “Go out and discover Wilfredo Lam! Go out and discover Matisse and the Fauves!” his teacher told him, aware that these were all mirrors in which the young Nazroo might recognise himself. He made these sacred monsters his own, discovered Lam in New York’s MoMA, followed Matisse’s trail as far as Morocco, encountered other like-minded artists, and different-coloured horizons in Asia and Africa. He assimilated the palettes along with the history of Western and Eastern art. “I took the time to learn and forget,” says Nazroo with a smile. “I know painting – when I was a student, they were already calling me ‘the professor’. There’s no such thing as an amateur painter. In order to create, you have to know. But once you have assimilated that knowledge, you have to forget. That’s when you really know. There is always the shadow of others on you, but you have integrated it. Otherwise, how can you become yourself?” THE CREATIVE DEN Even before he finished his studies, the Contemporary Art Collection in Paris acquired one of his paintings. In 1983, he returned to his native island. Since then, he has been the temple and the treasure. In 1989, he and his wife moved into a house-cum-studio that they had built in Beau-Bassin, close to the house where his father, a magistrate, lives. Every floor is dedicated to the practice of his art: on the ground floor, the living room/ painting studio, on the first floor, the gravure studio and press, and on the second floor, the bedroom and drawing studio, complete with terrace and a panoramic 360° view of the Moka Mountain. “I’ve painted this mountain a lot. The same and different. My painting is abstract, but it originates from “I TOOK THE TIME TO LEARN AND FORGET.” « J’AI PRIS LE TEMPS D’APPRENDRE ET D’OUBLIER. »
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