Mohamed Melehi is considered one of the most important Moroccan artists of his generation. As one of the leading figures of the cultural revolution that began at the Casablanca Art School, his work played an important role in cultural development in post-colonial Morocco.

It was during his time studying at Columbia University, New York, NY, where he lived in a studio below the pop artist Jim Dine, that Melehi became intimately involved in the post-modern art movement and was acquainted with famed artists including Frank Stella and Robert Rauschenberg, regulars to the renowned Leo Castelli Gallery. It was Hard-edge painting, a style prevalent in New York at the time, that impelled Melehi to revive elements of abstraction inherent in Islamic art within his work. From then on, he would turn to his cultural heritage and roots as a source of inspiration and his resulting imagery encapsulated both the post-modern aesthetic and the cultural richness of his home country’s traditional craft and design.