Bellakh was born in 1948 in the perched village of Maafa located in one of Aures valleys, route to Sahara (Biskra). Self-taught artist from a modest family, he has been exercising painting and sculpture for the past 50 years.

In the early 1980s, he occupied a makeshift studio in the backyard of an administrative building in Batna. Restless, Bellakh sought a more demanding gaze on his work—one equal to his talent. While Algiers offered only distant courtesy, Oran welcomed him with open arms. He quickly forged friendships, became part of the scene, and surrendered to its intensity.

As his work gained depth and force, his reputation grew. In 1984, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris opened its walls to him. The Zabana Museum followed, acquiring four works. Later, the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg added one of his pieces to its collection. After that, it is the MAMA in Algiers to acquire a bequest of sixteen watercolors of his.

Bio-sketch

Art of Art

Ballakh’s work is a tactile, material-driven exploration that blurs the boundaries between figuration and abstraction. Instead of painting, he sculpts surfaces, carves reliefs and exposes underlying tensions. We are invited to imagine tactile engagement and sense the weight that grounds his work in reality.

His dark yet complex colour palette resists seduction and comfort. It provokes the senses and challenges sensibilities, expressing the shadows of night, the hollows of the soul and the turbulence of human experience. In this interplay of light and darkness, his work exists in the tension between resignation and resistance.

Ballakh moves fluidly between figuration and abstraction. Where figuration falls short, abstraction takes over, creating a porous, shifting visual language. He prefers the term 'abstract figurative' to 'semi-figuration' when describing his work, emphasizing a creative process that embraces both the imprint of reality and the stirrings of interiority.

Through surfaces, reliefs, and tension, Ballakh crafts an expressive visual language that appeals to the eye and body alike, inviting viewers to confront not only what they see, but also what they feel and imagine.

Major Exhibitions

Bellakh's work has been highly ranked within the national artistic milieu, opening the doors of the most prestigious art galleries in Oran in particular. His first international exhibitions took place in his golden decade, the 80's, first in Tunis in 1981, then in France at the prestigious Art Centre Beaubourg in Paris in 1982 and in Grenoble in 1986, and finally in Moscow in 1989. In the 90's, after his return from Russia, he has exhibited mainly in Oran, Algeria.

Biography

His talent was acknowledged in all biography dictionaries dedicated to Algerian artists, including: Mémoire Algérienne, Biography Dictionary of A. Cheurfi (Ed. Dahlab, Algiers 1996); Les Artistes Algériens, Biography Dictionary of M. Abrous (Ed. Casbah, Algiers 2002); Diwan Al Fen, Dictionary of Algerian Artists, Sculptors & Designers of D. Flici Quendil (Ed. Enag-Anep, Algiers 2008); and Art in Algeria, Bibliography Repertory of S. Sebbah & M. Abrous (Ed. Casbah, Algiers 2009). Some of his early 80's and 90's paintings were acquired by the National Museum A. Zabana, Oran, Algeria, the New York Cultural Art Center, and the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.