'MINIATURES' BY JELLAL BEN ABDALLAH AT SELMA FERIANI GALLERY

“Tunisian artist Jellal Ben Abdallah draws on his ancestral imagination to honour fragments from his Mediterranean and Tunisian surroundings. He proceeds with a technical and delicate minuteness in depicting animate and inanimate subjects altogether. A painter of “feminine ritual”, women in traditional Tunisian attires, as well as motifs from domestic interiors largely occupy his frames, as he captures them with a substance of nobility and divinity. Intricate patterns, graceful and idyllic figures, and ethereal landscapes are constructed through the miniaturist’s lens authentically and nostalgically.
After studying at the Lycée Carnot, he settled in Sidi Bou Saïd in 1939 where his painting journey started. Since then, he has never lived anywhere else or pursued any other profession.
His inaugural exhibition dates back to 1939, which became an annual tradition as he has held one every year (including during the war years, to quote him). Beyond the shores of Tunisia, Jellal Ben Abdallah has personally exhibited in Stockholm, Paris, Madrid and Cairo and in most major capitals.
In addition to painting, Jellal Ben Abdallah has worked on building decoration (Tunisian Pavilion, Cité Universitaire of Paris, Brussels Universal Exhibition 1958), mosaics, stained glass, murals and ceramics. Several television programs have been dedicated to him (RTT, A2 – RAI…). He has also designed several series of postage stamps.”