Maurice Mboa’s first Tel Aviv exhibition, is a tribute to two figures who played a pivotal role in shaping the artist’s destiny. Growing up in ruralCameroon, Mboa was guided by his grandmother, a spiritual leader who introduced him to the hidden healing powers of the natural world. Later, a Jewish man, AviSivan, recognized a rare spark in the young artist, helped him establish his first studio, and became a father figure to him. Sivan’s tragic death in a helicopter crash left an unerasable mark on Mboa, a presence that lives on in each of his artworks.

These two ‘souls’—to use Mboa’s terminology—taught him to see beyond the visible and into the spiritual realm,igniting his interest in Judaism and profoundly shaping both his personal and professional paths. The exhibition’s title, Indelible, both honors their lasting influence on Mboa and reflects his artistic process—where every engraving is permanent, like a memory inscribed on one’s soul.

Mboa’s signature practice fuses the spiritual with the material, the personal with the universal. His soul prints, or Âme-preinte—a play on empreinte, theFrench word for imprint—depict faceless portraits set against vibrant backgrounds. Engraved on steel panels imported from Cameroon, these works emerge through a meticulous and laborious process, resulting in vivid,colorful compositions that simultaneously reveal the raw texture of the steel surface.

Maurice Mboa (b. 1983, Yaoundé, Cameroon) lives and works in Geneva,Switzerland. His work has been exhibited in Africa, various European countries,the Middle East and America, including a 2022 solo exhibition at Pace Galleryin Geneva, a 2023 solo exhibition in Tiger Gallery in London (with AIG), and group shows at Pace Gallery in Palm Beach, Florida, and Nassima Landau in Tel Aviv,Israel.