Charif Benhelima (b. 1967, Brussels) lives and works in Antwerp and Rio de Janeiro.
Master in Fine Arts at the Higher Institute Sint Lucas, Brussels, and Laureate at the HISK - Higher Institue for Fine Arts, Antwerp, Benhelima investigates the notion of identity, memory/oblivion, document, and truth through images that explore perception, time and space, and a sense of invisibility. Besides having worked with analogical photography, he has been long experimenting with Polaroid 600.
Nominated for his complete oeuvre for the Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography 2008 (Harvard University/Peabody Museum).
Selected solo exhibitions include: Imagem em process, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Nitéroi, Brasil 2013; The Allochtone, BPS22 - Espace de création contemporaine, Charleroi, Belgium 2013; Charif Benhelima: Polaroids 1998-2012, Bozar - Centre for Fine art, Brussels, Belgium 2012; .Welcome to Belgium, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas, USA 2010; Semites, Kunstlerhaus Bethanien Gmbh, Berlin, Germany 2005; Tussen stompzinnigheid en waanzin: foto’s, Museum of Modern Art Oostende ,Belgium 1999.??
Selected group exhibitions include: Artifactual Realities, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston; A Story of the Image, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singapore; Adding Subtractions, Bag Factory, Johannesburg; A Story of the Image, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; Monopolis, Witte de With, Rotterdam; Once upon a Time… A Look at Art: Belgium in the Nineties, MuHKA - Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp; Costanti Diversità: Biennale Europea Arti Visive La Spezia, Centro Arte Moderna a Contemporanea Della Spezia; Semites, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin; Berlin Tendenzen, Palau de la Virreina - La Capella, Barcelona, Mimésis, Extra City - Center for Contemporary Art, Antwerp.
Benhelima has shown in venues such as:
- BPS 22 - Espace de création contemporaine, Charleroi, Belgium
- MuHKA - Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Belgium.
- Extra City - Center for Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Belgium.
- Bozar - Centre for Fine art, Brussels, Belgium
- Mu.zee - Museum of Modern Art, Oostende, Belgium.
- Museum of photography, Charleroi, Belgium.
- Musee d’Ixelles,Brussels, Belgium
- Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singapore.
- Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China.
- Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas, USA
- ICP - International Center of Photography, New York City, U.S.A.
- VOLTANY, NY, USA
- Witte de With, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
- Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Kunstlerhaus Bethanien Gmbh, Berlin, Germany.
- Palau de la Virreina - La Capella, Barcelona, Spain.
- CAMeC - Centro Arte Moderna a Contemporanea Della Spezia, Italia.
- Musée de Marrakech, Morocco
- Musée des Oudayas, Rabat, Morocco
- MAC - Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Nitéroi, Brasil.
- Museu da República, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
