Dignity in “Tracing Morrocco” gives pause, requests your consideration.

Last year we wrote about Hendrik Beikirch’s journey to Morocco, The Trades. With the support of the Foundation Montresso he embarked  on a project to paint the portraits of people whose trades might be in danger of becoming obsolete and/or disappearing due to the complexities of the modern world. Tracing Morocco, the book about the project is now out…

Hendrik Beikirch. Tracing Morocco. Montresso Art Foundation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Magical and venerable tree whose roots piece the rock and seal an irrevocable pact with the earth,” says one of the quotes translated into Arabic, French, and English. This is the long view taken by a mature artist of a life lived with dignity, old enough to see that their roots run deep. Each portrait is compelling, a trades person enmeshed in this North African society, performing a role and a service deemed honest and necessary for the interdisciplinary machinery of daily life.

Barber, shepherd, carpenter, public letter-writer, henna artist, boat builder, tool merchant, fisherman: trades and services of Morocco where Beikirch (Street Artist ECB) traced the landscape, the city streets, the faces. Here you find his related studio practice, his gallery canvasses, his walls – all of which speak to the study he has undertaken of these singular figures.

Hendrik Beikirch. Tracing Morocco. Mohamed, Barber. Montresso Art Foundation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Acrylic, india ink, spray paint – each have their individual character, able to tell tales in their own right, now rendered together in service of capturing a face, a woven straw hat, a printed scarf wrapped over the head.

Elsewhere the artist strikes a modern and smooth James Dean / Chet Baker figure in black and white as he seriously renders, pen in hand, thin brush clenched between teeth. He is looking to his future here and while the faces and trades vary, in each one Beikirch has coaxed, captured, delivered the same thing, a light burning inside the eyes.

Hendrik Beikirch. Tracing Morocco. Mohamed, Barber. Montresso Art Foundation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The book is well planned, judiciously edited, and warm without sentimentality. Interspersed with cropped images of the completed sketches and canvasses is black and white photography illustrating the tools of the trade, sometimes a practitioner. “Tracing Morrocco” gives credit to the worker for their efforts and their skill and opens the door to so many inquiries, so many stories about the subject and how they have navigated through this life.

Given the successful portrayals here and ECB’s penchant for portraits, one can easily imagine more countries and people may be traced in the future, for you to examine.

Hendrik Beikirch. Tracing Morocco. Ahmed, Shepherd. Montresso Art Foundation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hendrik Beikirch. Tracing Morocco. Ahmed, Shepherd. Montresso Art Foundation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hendrik Beikirch. Tracing Morocco. Mustapha, Carpenter. Montresso Art Foundation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hendrik Beikirch. Tracing Morocco. Mustapha, Carpenter. Montresso Art Foundation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hendrik Beikirch. Tracing Morocco. Lahcen, Public letter-writter. Montresso Art Foundation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hendrik Beikirch. Tracing Morocco. Lahcen, Public letter-writter. Montresso Art Foundation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hendrik Beikirch. Tracing Morocco. Fadma, Henna artist. Montresso Art Foundation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hendrik Beikirch. Tracing Morocco. Fadma, Henna artist. Montresso Art Foundation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hendrik Beikirch’s Tracing Morocco published by and in collaboration with Montresso Art Foundation. November 2016.

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