Mohamed El Baz, born in 1967 in El Ksiba, Morocco, has developed a rich and multifaceted artistic practice that blurs the lines between personal and collective narratives, blending his Moroccan, French, African, and Berber roots with his experiences and reflections on the world. After moving to Dunkirk, France, with his family in 1975, El Baz pursued his art education at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Cergy, France, and the Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques in Paris. His work, which has been showcased across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, engages deeply with themes of memory, place, desire, and identity, as well as the broader social, economic, and political contexts of his time​​​​.

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A cornerstone of El Baz's oeuvre is the ongoing project "Bricoler l'incurable" (Mending the Incurable), which he began in 1993. This expansive "toolkit" of works—referred to as Détails—employs a diverse range of media and strategies to explore and reconfigure subjects like chance, subjectivity, intimacy, ritual, and violence. By employing combinatorial systems, El Baz aims to offer non-linear and non-hierarchical perspectives on curing the ills of the world. His approach allows for the continual reiteration, adaptation, and reconstitution of his thematic concerns, making his work a dynamic and evolving conversation with the viewer and the broader world​​.

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El Baz's "Door of Heaven" installation in 2016 serves as a powerful example of his method of engaging with complex issues through art. Drawing inspiration from the writings of Cioran, El Baz explores the notion of "mending the incurable" as a philosophical and artistic directive, aiming to transcend and heal the wounds inflicted by personal and collective traumas. His work, whether it focuses on the specifics of an installation or partakes in a broader dialogue through pieces like "Bricoler l'incurable. Détails / Love Supreme" and "Bricoler l'incurable. Détails / The Farm," continuously seeks to negotiate the space between the fragmentary and the total, the individual and the collective​​.

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Throughout his career, El Baz has maintained a keen awareness of the artist's role as both a creator and a mediator of experiences and narratives. His commitment to an art practice that is both deeply personal and universally resonant reflects a nuanced understanding of the artist's capacity to foster dialogue, challenge perceptions, and inspire change. By positioning his work at the intersection of memory, identity, and political consciousness, Mohamed El Baz invites us to consider the transformative power of art in addressing the most pressing issues of our time ​​.

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