Ghany was born in Marrakesh, Morocco. At a very young age he became interested in drawing and painting. When he was 12 years old, he attended 4 years of drawing classes in junior high school under the direction of German painter, Hans Holbeing. At the age of 19, Ghany asserted himself among the artists of Marrakesh and organized an open air art show for the “Association Les Jeunes Peintres de Marrakesh” at the entrance of the old city. A bold and daring gesture at that time, this event triggered Ghany’s need to communicate with a larger audience by creating an integrated social art work. Driven by an unwavering determination to be heard in the art world, he founded the art group “Situation 73” and organized a didactic international art show in La Place Jemaa El Fna in Marrakesh. He exhibited a series of conceptual art pieces called “Les Vieilles Portes,” a premier in the annals of contemporary art in Morocco. That same year, he received a surprise visit from (Beatle) Paul McCartney, his wife Linda Eastman and their three children in his Marrakesh studio.In the early stages of his career, Ghany realized that an artist has a moral responsibility to uphold first and foremost. Because so often the certainties of today pose our biggest questions for tomorrow, it is the artist who first sees and communicates our changing times in the art that he or she produces. Ghany not only concerns himself with his own artistic research but the prevailing situation of artists and art at that time. In 1975, Ghany originated and founded the “Association Des Pasticiens Marocains” in Casablanca, which was a national platform that simultaneously promotes artists in the country and educates the public. Among those at the origin of the golden age of contemporary art in Morocco, Ghany’s contribution to the development of plastic art in the country is invaluable.
One of the pioneers of the “Nouvelle Figuration” in Morocco, Ghany became one of the leading figures to integrate a new formal vocabulary that explored a less realistic representation of everyday life as a metaphor depicting a broader human condition. In 1975, Ghany met and became friends with living legend Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones and painted a large mural in his recording studio in Vence, France. He became a familiar figure in Saint Paul De Vence and was often seen with renowned artists Andre Verdet, Loma Loft, Arman, Cesar and others. Ghany’s international presence took off at this time, exhibiting in art shows in Saudi Arabia, Gernany, France, Japan, Canada, etc. His meeting with Pierre Restany in 1976, one of the greatest French art critics of the time, turned out to be a lifelong friendship. Both shared the vision of the importance of art in the city and urban space. After several years of research and networking, Ghany and Pierre Restany decided to launch the idea of organizing the “International Symposium: Reflections on the City of Today and Tomorrow.”
In 1977, Ghany was officially invited to exhibit at the Museum of Saint-Paul (renowned for hosting early Picasso, Matisse, Braque and other famous artist’s shows). He became the first Moroccan artist to exhibit individually in a French Museum.
After organizing the “Second Week of Contemporary Art” in 1980 with Pierre Restany and Trigano (an event where renowned European art critics, curators and artists Cesar, Arman, Gerard Shlosser, Daniel Abaddie, Guy Dumur, Catherine Millet, Pierre Nahon, etc. were invited), Ghany decided to settle in Paris. At that time, the French Ministry of Culture awarded him an art studio in La Celle-Saint Cloud. After being assigned a four-year artist residency at Cite Internationale Des Arts in Montmartre and Rue de L`Hotel de Ville by the city of Paris, Ghany was then awarded a permanent art studio-residence by the city.
Ghany is not only an accomplished artist but a lecturer, art critic, curator and a contemporary art historian. He is the most accurate and comprehensive source of modern and contemporary art history in Morocco. He holds a DEA and Doctorate from Paris Vlll University in “Esthetics and Technologies of Arts” that he prepared under the direction of Frank Popper and Edmond Couchot. During the Paris period, Ghany met, worked, interacted and became friends with the most important and influential personalities of the art scene in France and world-wide. Jaques Polieri, the French creator of “La Scenographie Contemporaine,” said that “Ghany is one of the most original artists who stands out from the crowd.”
In 1986, Ghany, an acclaimed artist with a heightened thirst for knowledge and new experiences, extended his research into the United States. During that time he met George Birline, a renowned artist NC, Jean McLaughlin, Director of the North Carolina Arts Council and Rory Parnell (The Raleigh Contemporary Galley), North Carolina. He then went on to organize a series of cultural exchanges in commemoration of the Bicentennial of the relationship between Morocco and the United States and involved prominent artists from both countries. Ghany exhibited his art along the east coast from Orlando, Florida to Boston, Massachusetts. In 1991, Ghany settled in the United States, first in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and then the Pacific Northwest, just outside of Seattle, Washington.
Forty years of passionate artistic activities has made Ghany a world-renowned artist and distinguished personality in the art world. He acts and thinks from an ethical point of view and is constantly questioning art and its social function in today’s society.