MELODY EH$ANI x HASSAN HAJJAJ

MELODY EH$ANI x HASSAN HAJJAJ
Born in Larache, Morocco, in 1961, Hassan Hajjaj left Morocco for London at an early age. Heavily influence by the club, hip-hop, and reggae scenes of London as well as by his North African heritage, Hajjaj is a self-taught and thoroughly versatile artist whose work includes portraiture, installation, performance, fashion, and interior design, including furniture made from recycled utilitarian objects from North Africa, such as upturned Coca-Cola crates as stools and aluminum
cans turned into lamps.
Turning to photography in the late 80s, Hajjaj is a master portraitist, taking studio portraits of friends, musicians, and artists, as well as strangers from the streets of Marrakech, often wearing clothes designed by the artist. These colorful and engaging portraits combine the visual vocabulary of contemporary fashion photography and pop art, as well as the studio photography of African artist Malick Sidibe, in an intelligent commentary on the influences of tradition in the interpretations of high and low branding and the effects of global capitalism.
Hassan's work is in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, New York; the British Museum, London; the Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham, NC; the Newark Museum, New Jersey; Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the Farjam Collection, Dubai; Institut des Cultures d’Islam, Paris; Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunisia; Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA, and more. The artist lives and works between London, UK and Marrakech, Morocco.
M.E. and Hassan joined to create a series of limited portraits creating a hybrid of their worlds. Set against a backdrop designed by Hassan, Melody and the M.E. shop girls portrayed a glimpse into the Los Angeles culture they grew up in. Each photo showcases the designer's footwear and apparel collaborations with Reebok Classics through the filter of each girl's individual style and personality.  The shop girls have their own custom lowrider bicycles they keep at the shop, Hassan used them in the shoot, and in turn made custom frames made out of bicycle tires for the photo series.
If you're in the Los Angeles area, please stop by our shop on Fairfax Ave. and view the works for yourself. If you are interested in purchasing a print from this special collaboration, please inquire at our retail location for pricing and availability.