Moderne Art Fair continues to place emerging artists at the heart of its programme. In dialogue with the major works of the 20th century that form the very essence of the fair, a new generation of artists is taking to the exhibition halls.

Amongst this new generation, Moderne Art Fair is delighted to present Touils at its 2026 edition. Born in Oujda in 1995, this self-taught Moroccan painter has forged his own path, far removed from traditional routes. Having arrived in France at the age of eighteen, he set up his studio in Lille before continuing his work in Dubai. As a self-taught artist, Touils has developed a deeply personal style of painting, in which his experiences, his memories and his relationship with the places he has lived play a central role. Landscape lies at the heart of his practice. His landscapes are rooted in real places, yet are transformed into veritable inner maps, reconstructed through his sensibility. Through his work with colour and texture, the artist seeks not so much to reproduce a place as to convey the sensation it evokes.

This approach stems in particular from his admiration for Claude Monet, whose work plays a major role in his artistic practice. Like Monet, Touils attaches particular importance to light, variations in colour and the sensory perception of the landscape. By similarly producing works in XXL formats, sometimes as polyptychs, he also draws on the work of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. This connection with the great masters of modernity has led him to be regarded today as a ‘modern-day Impressionist’, creating a dialogue between the legacy of Impressionism and a profoundly contemporary sensibility.

Indeed, Touils reinvents this heritage through his personal perspective on Moroccan culture and tradition. Far from viewing tradition as a mere relic of the past or as a decorative element, he explores its memory, rhythms and textures. The richness of Moroccan textiles, architectural traces and the unique relationship between nature and life all serve as sources of inspiration which he translates into his paintings. His work thus finds its place at the fair, echoing the exhibition at the Arab World Institute – this year’s guest of honour – and furthering the special focus placed this year on Mediterranean scenes and sensibilities.

Touils thus offers a fresh perspective on the landscape, where the memory of the place blends with the imagination and personal experience.

TOUILS, Oasis des deux soleils, 2026. Oil, acrylic and oil pastels on canvas, 150 × 180 cm.

Contact : 

Contact@touils.com