Les Ateliers Courbet is pleased to present new work by Moroccan artist Hamza Kadiri in a solo exhibition. Sought after by international collectors, Kadiri’s highly sculptural, contemporary work embodies the artist’s mastery in marquetry and cabinetry. Six new pieces will be on view—side tables, credenzas, a bench, and an armoire—each demonstrating Kadiri’s meticulously hand-crafted work.

Hailing from a long lineage of wood experts, Kadiri has honed his wood artistry from his workshop in Casablanca as well as his apprenticeships in Japan and travels around the world. With access to rare, precious varieties of wood, Kadiri has created a body of work that reflects the artist’s reverence for the material, its properties, and characteristics.

Inspired by mythology and classical art, Kadiri’s bold curves and textured surfaces magnify the material’s natural grains and patterns, as well as the time-honored techniques involved. Each piece of wood is carefully chosen for its singularity, its essence, and inherent beauty.

Kadiri has developed a deeply personal visual language in which the raw materials, their nature, and personality dictate the shape and the skin of the ultimate piece. Kadiri’s B02 Bench (pictured above) possesses sculptural curves and was created from ash wood, hand carved and then tinted black before being finished in beeswax. The Royal Ebony credenza was created out of solid wood and hand veneered with thin tree sheets of Royal Laos Ebony, and then protected with a thick lacquer finish. The credenza’s curved sides are inspired by aerodynamic movement. Kadiri’s side tables are carved from solid ash, tinted black and completed with a suede finish. The Balthazar armoire is hand carved ash wood and charred using the traditional Japanese Shou-Sugi-Ban technique. The armoire is impressive in both its size and shape and has a built-in stool incorporated into the design. The creation of such a piece requires deep expertise in cabinet making in order to obtain several perfect circles in a conical shape.

“Hamza has a reverence for raw, natural materials and a rare mastery of wood that is evident in his work. He selects species of trees that are rarely seen in art or design because they are challenging to work with and particularly hard to break. I respect the humility he has kept while silently growing a significant body of work in Morocco, and we’re honored to share his craftsmanship with a new audience and present his latest work in New York this winter.” - Melanie Courbet