BÉCHIR BOUSSANDEL

Béchir Boussandel is a Tunisian–French painter who lives and works in Tunis. He graduated in painting from the Dunkirk School of Fine Arts.

Through his work, Boussandel explores spaces and non-lieux of identity. Working horizontally, he paints with water on canvas, allowing climatic variables such as heat, humidity, wind, and dust to directly influence the material. The resulting works emerge from a dialogue between gesture, environment, control, and chance.

Boussandel’s recent residency with GALERIE FARAH FAKHRI resulted in a new body of work grounded in experimentation and subversion. His interest in creating a dialogue between local environmental conditions and creative processes has continually challenged established pictorial conventions inherent to traditional visual language. During the residency, he began by observing and isolating subjects that captured his attention – particularly those expressing tension, density, and transparency. These subjects were translated into bas-reliefs, creating an interplay between different planes. Such transitions opened new spatial dimensions within his research, expanding his practice into three-dimensional forms that traverse both painting and sculpture. Figurative elements also emerged, inspired by his observations of daily life in Abidjan.

These inscriptions, embedded within the material, ground the works in a personal narrative of his experience as a visitor. Through this evolving practice, Boussandel continues to examine how environments, objects, and gestures intersect to form a sense of belonging.

His works are exhibited internationally and are held in the collections of the Ministry of Culture and Youth of the United Arab Emirates, the Deji Museum in Shanghai, MACAAL, and the Montresso Foundation in Marrakech.