Born in Fez, SONEGO is the eldest – and the only boy – of a large family. From an early age, he hides in the workshop of his mother – a seamstress and fashion designer – to quietly observe her work. She is unaware that all these parading women, dressed in fine, bright-colored draperies, will eventually become his muses; the contour and shape of their fabric-wrapped bodies inspires each day his creativity. He paints under the surname of his mother, to whom he owes a large part of his creativity.

 

SONEGO left his homeland for good at the age of 13 to settle with his family in Israel. This brutal one-way ticket and clash of cultures has left its mark. But this first migration also led to new horizons and the discovery of autonomy and a vast freedom. He meets important people that inspire and encourage him to develop his art. Later, he discovers Europe, in particular Belgium, where he settled down for fifteen years. Today, this citizen of the world is based in Montreal.

 

Whether in a land of oriental perfumes, in the Eternal City, on the Old Continent, or in the vast plains of North America, SONEGO is reborn during every visit, every meeting, every glance.

 

In the 80s, he studied photography and painting at the Academy of Arts in Saint-Luc, then at the Academy of Fine Arts (Liège, Belgium). Although inspired by many artists, he does not adhere to any current, or any school. Bursting with creativity, he quickly develops a very personal technique, both in photography and in painting. He draws his journey as we slide along a sketch, from curves to straight lines; he never lifts the pencil off the paper. He captures, rebuilds, cleans, composes, destroys and recomposes to create an increasingly positive image of life. His original idea, never rigid, sharpens and adjusts itself in the course of his thoughts to achieve harmony ... his harmony! He uses multiple materials and mixed techniques. This combination is, for the artist, like the evolving world and the eternal beginning he wishes to narrate. This technique, in constant development, contributes to his originality.

 

"Give me a brush and I will change the world" – this is his mantra. A man of few words, the painter actually opens, a powerful dialogue through his paintings. The colors and rhythm of shapes lead the viewer on a journey elsewhere. The paintings – neither wholly abstract nor fully figurative – are revealed little by little. They voluntarily give a prominent place to the individual imagination. The viewer is drawn into a snapshot suspended like a broken mirror, offering facets that assemble and blaze. He is called to create his own  reality.

 

A message appears continuously from his work: his unalterable humanity.

 

SONEGO, or the path of a man through his brush, sliding along a canvas to disappear under a signature.

 

 

Rachel SABBAH