ACHRAF TOULOUB
b. 1986, MoroccoThe paintings and drawings of Achraf Touloub are developed around the idea that the times we currently live in are characterized by their tendency to stretch reality through multiplied parallel dimensions, having as first consequence the redefinition of our means of perception.
Touloub’s pictorial language is conceived as an immersive paradox, in which texture is meant to reveal, as well as to hide. The ever-present interfaces, the capacity of images and the increasingly blurry distinction between information flux and sensory experiences are the starting points of his compositions. For the artist, textures and compositions are connected to a primordial time, an essential beginning when the so-called reality, dreams and feelings were marked by unity.
The paintings are conceived as symbolically functional, they are immersive representations, which can produce an effect on the viewer’s perceptive skills. In order to develop a deeper way to embrace reality, time is not only connected to the conscious mind, but also appeals to pre-rational devices. Touloub thinks of his work as a vision to breathe, more than to see or read, and of his works as autonomous, created with the chaos and precision of a natural phenomenon. His paintings are alternative realities for the subconscious.
**
Achraf Touloub**, born 1986 in Casablanca, Morocco, lives and works in Paris. Touloub graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 2013.
Solo exhibitions and projects include: By a ciphered fall, Public Gallery, London (2025); Traité de Métamorphose, Parliament, Paris (2024); Assabīya, Plan B, Berlin (2022); Vies parallèles, Blank projects, Cape Town (2022); Les Arrivées, Centre d’art contemporain PASSERELLE, Brest (2021); Art Club #30 Achraf Touloub, Villa Medici, Rome (2019); European Night, Plan B, Berlin (2019); CONT’D, Plan B, Berlin (2016); standard condition, Galerie Albert Baronian, Brussels (2015); Latent, Plan B, Berlin (2014).
Group exhibitions include: My hand is your spoon. It feeds you, curated by Mircea Cantor, International Center for Contemporary Art – Turkish Bath, Iasi (2025); 00:00:01, Public Gallery, London (2024); Liquid life, Musee Departemental D’Art Contemporain Chateau De Rochechouart, Rochechouart (2024); Le retour, Musée régional d’art contemporain Occitanie (Mrac), Sérignan (2023) Es-senze, Museo di Palazzo Mocenigo, Venice (2022); Landscape in a Convex Mirror, Art Encounters Biennial, Timisoara (2021); Anticorps, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2020); Iulia Nistor and Achraf Touloub. Space __(Continuation and End), Rezidenta BRD Scena9, Bucharest (2019); Baltic Triennial 13: Give Up the Ghost, Tallinn (2018); The World on Paper, Deutsche Bank Collection, Berlin (2018); Night was paper and we were ink, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah (2018); Auguries, Art space Geumcheon, Seoul (2017); Viva Arte Viva, 57th Venice Biennale (2017); 100 chefs-d’oeuvre de l’art moderne et contemporain arabe. La collection Barjeel, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris (2017); Mutations-Creations / Imprimer le monde, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2017); Dissolve into a red dwarf, Island, Brussels (2017); Art Club #12/ Folies d’hiver, Villa Medici, Rome (2016); Cher(e)s Ami(e)s. New presentation of works from the collection, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2016); Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi (2016); Club of Matinee Idolz, CO2, Turin (2015); Des hommes, des mondes, College des Bernardins, Paris (2014).Brussels (2017); Art Club #12/ Folies d’hiver, Villa Medici, Rome (2016); Cher(e)s Ami(e)s. New presentation of works from the collection, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2016); Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi (2016); Club of Matinee Idolz, CO2, Turin (2015); Des hommes, des mondes, College des Bernardins, Paris (2014).
Courtesy Galeria Plan B
Works at Galeria Plan B
Recently Exhibited
Explore and Follow Artists Shaping Contemporary Art
A respected voice in contemporary art discourse.
Focusing on ambitious storytelling and insightful art-world commentary. Ocula Magazine publishes in-depth interviews, critical essays and timely analysis on the artists, exhibitions and ideas driving the global art world.
Learn more about Ocula Magazine
Showcasing the best of the art world.
Ocula partners with galleries from around the world to highlight their artists, artworks and exhibitions. Gallery membership is by application and invitation, with each member vetted by an independent panel.
Learn more about Ocula Membership
Specialises in the sale of major artworks.
Led by a team with deep ties to the world’s leading auction houses, galleries and collectors. Ocula’s advisory team offers bespoke services to high-net-worth clients from around the world who are looking to acquire the best of contemporary and modern art.
Learn more about our team and services